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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 41.8935, -95.2353

Estimated forage here is better than about 61% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (64th percentile) and lowest in summer (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). 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: 93rd percentile (spring 39th, summer 95th, fall 32nd)
  • Iowa: 61st percentile (spring 64th, summer 50th, fall 51st)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 55th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 44th, fall 46th)

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: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 14,369 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,142 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,575 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,399 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 391 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, 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, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.