Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 41.4658, -89.0815

Estimated forage here is better than about 43% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (68th percentile) and lowest in summer (42nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 2 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), 0.19 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 46th, summer 93rd, fall 33rd)
  • Illinois: 43rd percentile (spring 60th, summer 42nd, fall 68th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 34th percentile (spring 79th, summer 27th, fall 73rd)

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

  • Soybeans: about 6,824 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 8,287 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,011 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,028 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,483 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 4,552 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early 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); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra 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.