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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 41.7956, -92.0689

Estimated forage here is better than about 19% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.24 mi SE.

Ranking

Continental US: 85th percentile (spring 70th, summer 87th, fall 61st)
Iowa: 19th percentile (spring 91st, summer 14th, fall 90th)
Western Corn Belt Plains: 11th percentile (spring 95th, summer 7th, fall 82nd)

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), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

Corn: about 1,403 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
Soybeans: about 1,730 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 417 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Corn: about 1,477 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
Soybeans: about 131 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 470 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; extra light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.