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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 41.5738, -91.2619

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (89th percentile) and lowest in summer (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.25 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 67th, summer 93rd, fall 52nd)
  • Iowa: 79th percentile (spring 89th, summer 36th, fall 77th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 75th percentile (spring 94th, summer 27th, fall 69th)

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
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,263 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 7,458 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,742 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 5,085 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 342 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,993 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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