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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 what blooms within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more) and when, the gaps in the season, 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.

Forage report for 42.6088, -95.8835

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in summer (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (3rd). 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 N, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.2 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 4th, summer 100th, fall 6th)
  • Iowa: 100th percentile (spring 8th, summer 100th, fall 3rd)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 100th percentile (spring 10th, summer 100th, fall 3rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jun 16 — Soybeans
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 10,779 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 14,112 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,495 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,030 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,591 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.