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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 42.2824, -95.8963

Estimated forage here is better than about 30% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (70th percentile) and lowest in summer (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.23 mi SW.

Ranking

Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 92nd, fall 48th)
Iowa: 30th percentile (spring 66th, summer 31st, fall 70th)
Western Corn Belt Plains: 21st percentile (spring 76th, summer 21st, fall 65th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

Soybeans: about 398 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 1,460 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Corn: about 4,360 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
Corn: about 925 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
Corn: about 3,634 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
Soybeans: about 401 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, 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); light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
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); 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.