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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 40.8357, -91.4369

Estimated forage here is better than about 2% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (92nd percentile) and lowest in summer (2nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 71st, summer 76th, fall 56th)
  • Iowa: 2nd percentile (spring 92nd, summer 2nd, fall 83rd)
  • Central Irregular Plains: 3rd percentile (spring 38th, summer 19th, fall 85th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Iowa, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 110 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 191 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 209 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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