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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.

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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 41.7431, -90.7805

Estimated forage here is better than about 52% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (62nd percentile) and lowest in summer (47th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi NW). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 37th, summer 94th, fall 32nd)
  • Iowa: 52nd percentile (spring 62nd, summer 47th, fall 51st)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 44th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 39th, fall 45th)

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
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,474 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 10,171 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,347 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 265 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,341 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,809 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early 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
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.