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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.

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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 41.3234, -89.1831

Estimated forage here is better than about 16% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (92nd percentile) and lowest in summer (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.18 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 70th, summer 85th, fall 57th)
  • Illinois: 16th percentile (spring 84th, summer 15th, fall 92nd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 12th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 11th, fall 86th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 991 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 463 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 850 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 940 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,448 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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