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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 40.8791, -93.5921

Estimated forage here is better than about 72% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in summer (62nd percentile) and lowest in fall (46th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.24 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 96th, fall 27th)
  • Iowa: 72nd percentile (spring 57th, summer 62nd, fall 46th)
  • Central Irregular Plains: 88th percentile (spring 3rd, summer 94th, fall 35th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,077 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,053 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 780 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 411 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 318 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,860 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late 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
  • 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; 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.