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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 41.2623, -89.2553

Estimated forage here is better than about 44% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (79th percentile) and lowest in summer (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here); corn (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.12 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 49th, summer 93rd, fall 41st)
  • Illinois: 44th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 41st, fall 79th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 36th percentile (spring 80th, summer 26th, fall 77th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,546 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 8,445 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 202 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 327 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 226 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 93 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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.