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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 42.8971, -96.3109

Estimated forage here is better than about 78% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in summer (74th percentile) and lowest in fall (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 21st, summer 97th, fall 17th)
Iowa: 78th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 74th, fall 30th)
Western Corn Belt Plains: 73rd percentile (spring 51st, summer 71st, fall 27th)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

Corn: about 15,412 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
Soybeans: about 6,050 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 549 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 3,057 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 242 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 170 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, 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); extra 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

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.