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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 42.2287, -95.9299

Estimated forage here is better than about 21% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (85th percentile) and lowest in summer (21st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.1 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 55th, summer 89th, fall 57th)
  • Iowa: 21st percentile (spring 77th, summer 21st, fall 85th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 13th percentile (spring 86th, summer 12th, fall 78th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 5,201 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,651 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 954 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 644 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 95 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, 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); 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.