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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 41.5606, -95.9940

Estimated forage here is better than about 43% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in summer (52nd percentile) and lowest in spring (36th). 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), 0.2 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 15th, summer 95th, fall 26th)
  • Iowa: 43rd percentile (spring 36th, summer 52nd, fall 43rd)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 35th percentile (spring 41st, summer 46th, fall 39th)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,492 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 11,816 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,664 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 131 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 117 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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