Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 41.6495, -92.3464

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Iowa. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Iowa sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi E). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 35th, summer 95th, fall 34th)
  • Iowa: 60th percentile (spring 59th, summer 52nd, fall 53rd)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 54th percentile (spring 69th, summer 46th, fall 47th)

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

  • Corn: about 4,897 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 699 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,008 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,594 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,347 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, 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, Alfalfa; white
  • 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

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.