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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 40.8088, -94.0517

Estimated forage here is better than about 43% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (77th percentile) and lowest in summer (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.1 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 55th, summer 92nd, fall 51st)
  • Iowa: 43rd percentile (spring 77th, summer 31st, fall 76th)
  • Central Irregular Plains: 71st percentile (spring 14th, summer 81st, fall 74th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 627 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 122 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 163 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 181 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 104 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early 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, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra 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.