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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 41.6817, -93.6250

Estimated forage here is better than about 13% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring and fall (99th percentile) and lowest in summer (4th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 0.8 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.16 mi SW. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 86th, summer 78th, fall 71st)
  • Iowa: 13th percentile (spring 99th, summer 4th, fall 99th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 7th percentile (spring 99th, summer 2nd, fall 94th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 141 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 177 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 54% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.