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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 42.8670, -94.1844

Estimated forage here is better than about 62% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in summer (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.34 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 48th, summer 94th, fall 46th)
  • Iowa: 62nd percentile (spring 72nd, summer 44th, fall 69th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 55th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 35th, fall 63rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,583 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,575 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,905 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,077 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,038 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,852 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Soybeans, 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, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

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.