Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 42.0710, -90.4330

Estimated forage here is better than about 18% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (59th percentile) and lowest in summer (28th). 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.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 85th percentile (spring 35th, summer 91st, fall 35th)
  • Iowa: 18th percentile (spring 59th, summer 28th, fall 54th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 10th percentile (spring 69th, summer 18th, fall 49th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 8,167 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 388 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 106 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 146 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, 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, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, 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.