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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 42.4728, -90.8359

Estimated forage here is better than about 3% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (89th percentile) and lowest in summer (11th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.24 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 49th, summer 85th, fall 60th)
  • Iowa: 3rd percentile (spring 72nd, summer 11th, fall 89th)
  • Driftless Area: 42nd percentile (spring 40th, summer 52nd, fall 22nd)

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, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 970 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 330 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 292 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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