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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 40.4315, -91.4449

Estimated forage here is better than about 1% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (below the 1st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 62nd percentile (spring 73rd, summer 63rd, fall 56th)
  • Iowa: 1st percentile (spring 93rd, summer 0th, fall 83rd)
  • Central Irregular Plains: 1st percentile (spring 42nd, summer 8th, fall 85th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 193 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 214 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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