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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.

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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 42.8029, -94.4229

Estimated forage here is better than about 40% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (73rd percentile) and lowest in summer (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 50th, summer 92nd, fall 48th)
  • Iowa: 40th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 31st, fall 71st)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 31st percentile (spring 83rd, summer 22nd, 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 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,222 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 6,716 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 4,076 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 930 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 197 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 307 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) 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.