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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 42.6304, -94.5985

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in summer (90th percentile) and lowest in fall (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi SW). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 1.16 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 20th, summer 98th, fall 14th)
  • Iowa: 95th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 90th, fall 23rd)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 95th percentile (spring 50th, summer 88th, fall 21st)

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

Season

  • First forage: May 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 15,547 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 5,633 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,937 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,847 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 379 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,433 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi NW, 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, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.
  • No mapped water within a mile. Plan to provide water. Small ponds, ditches, troughs and pools don't show on these maps.

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.