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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 42.0805, -91.6752

Estimated forage here is better than about 36% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 65th, summer 90th, fall 61st)
  • Iowa: 36th percentile (spring 86th, summer 22nd, fall 90th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 28th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 13th, fall 82nd)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Iowa, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,972 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 165 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 340 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 4,162 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 131 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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