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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 41.0345, -93.7877

Estimated forage here is better than about 15% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring and fall (96th percentile) and lowest in summer (8th). 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), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 79th, summer 83rd, fall 66th)
  • Iowa: 15th percentile (spring 96th, summer 8th, fall 96th)
  • Central Irregular Plains: 27th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 36th, fall 98th)

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: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 192 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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