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Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 41.1968, -90.8811

Estimated forage here is better than about 37% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (66th percentile) and lowest in summer (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.39 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 44th, summer 92nd, fall 31st)
  • Illinois: 37th percentile (spring 57th, summer 39th, fall 66th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 51st percentile (spring 30th, summer 60th, fall 62nd)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Illinois, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 12,949 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 870 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,179 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 443 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 291 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,738 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber

An estimate from public maps (USDA crop maps 2021-2025 averaged, LANDFIRE vegetation), not a survey of the ground. Maps can't see garden plantings, understory density, other beekeepers' hives, or this year's weather. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.