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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 42.4352, -92.4519

Estimated forage here is better than about 36% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (63rd percentile) and lowest in summer (37th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here); soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi N). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.12 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 38th, summer 93rd, fall 39th)
  • Iowa: 36th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 37th, fall 59th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 27th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 28th, fall 53rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 868 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,924 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 4,880 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,960 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 165 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 195 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.