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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 41.8263, -93.1501

Estimated forage here is better than about 82% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (73rd percentile) and lowest in summer (51st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.2 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 50th, summer 95th, fall 43rd)
  • Iowa: 82nd percentile (spring 73rd, summer 51st, fall 64th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 77th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 45th, fall 59th)

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: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,625 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,018 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,021 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,052 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 507 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 302 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.