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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 41.9628, -90.4690

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (66th percentile) and lowest in summer (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi SW, 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: 87th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 91st, fall 37th)
  • Iowa: 25th percentile (spring 66th, summer 29th, fall 56th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 16th percentile (spring 77th, summer 19th, fall 51st)

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, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 12,086 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,427 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 120 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 98 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 273 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 90 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late 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, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; 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.