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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 40.7050, -91.2272

Estimated forage here is better than about 23% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (65th percentile) and lowest in summer (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 41st, summer 91st, fall 29th)
Iowa: 23rd percentile (spring 65th, summer 29th, fall 47th)
Interior River Valleys and Hills: 39th percentile (spring 26th, summer 54th, fall 59th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

Soybeans: about 3,506 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
Corn: about 5,345 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
Soybeans: about 113 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jun – early Aug
Corn: about 175 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Jul
Corn: about 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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