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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 42.9281, -91.3877

Estimated forage here is better than about 10% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (74th percentile) and lowest in summer (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 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: 81st percentile (spring 45th, summer 88th, fall 50th)
  • Iowa: 10th percentile (spring 69th, summer 18th, fall 74th)
  • Driftless Area: 65th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 72nd, fall 8th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 9,922 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,346 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 191 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 228 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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