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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 40.8215, -91.1745

Estimated forage here is better than about 6% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (10th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.26 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 61st, summer 85th, fall 55th)
  • Iowa: 6th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 10th, fall 81st)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 3rd percentile (spring 90th, summer 5th, 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 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 69 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 96 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 87 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 58% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.