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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 40.7338, -91.3389

Estimated forage here is better than about 27% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (81st percentile) and lowest in summer (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (right here, grown 2 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 60th, summer 90th, fall 43rd)
  • Iowa: 27th percentile (spring 81st, summer 22nd, fall 64th)
  • Central Irregular Plains: 51st percentile (spring 20th, summer 70th, fall 58th)

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 1,119 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 700 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,110 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 260 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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