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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 42.0056, -94.9697

Estimated forage here is better than about 67% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in summer (61st percentile) and lowest in fall (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 30th, summer 96th, fall 19th)
  • Iowa: 67th percentile (spring 54th, summer 61st, fall 34th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 60th percentile (spring 64th, summer 56th, fall 31st)

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 17,429 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,005 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,347 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,128 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,631 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 929 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): 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

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.