Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 42.9221, -93.0370

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in summer (63rd percentile) and lowest in fall (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here); soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.36 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 25th, summer 96th, fall 19th)
  • Iowa: 65th percentile (spring 48th, summer 63rd, fall 35th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 59th percentile (spring 57th, summer 59th, fall 31st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 18,844 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 4,682 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 710 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 180 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,341 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 957 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi W, 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, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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.

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.