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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 40.5721, -94.5467

Estimated forage here is better than about 28% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (88th percentile) and lowest in summer (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 66th, summer 89th, fall 51st)
  • Iowa: 28th percentile (spring 88th, summer 20th, fall 76th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 19th percentile (spring 94th, summer 11th, fall 69th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Iowa, 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 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 555 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 506 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 617 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 178 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 323 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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.