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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 41.4138, -90.0049

Estimated forage here is better than about 22% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 85th percentile (spring 59th, summer 89th, fall 44th)
  • Illinois: 22nd percentile (spring 73rd, summer 23rd, fall 82nd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 16th percentile (spring 87th, summer 15th, fall 79th)

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, 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 5,666 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 8,150 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 7,591 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 500 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,700 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,045 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.