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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 40.8387, -94.1077

Estimated forage here is better than about 50% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (25th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.18 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 68th, summer 91st, fall 55th)
  • Iowa: 50th percentile (spring 90th, summer 25th, fall 82nd)
  • Central Irregular Plains: 77th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 75th, fall 84th)

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
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 612 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 280 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 645 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 627 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 702 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 97 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late 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, Alfalfa, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Garden flowers; 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

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.