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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 42.9892, -96.0092

Estimated forage here is better than about 63% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.18 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 60th, summer 92nd, fall 57th)
  • Iowa: 63rd percentile (spring 81st, summer 35th, fall 84th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 57th percentile (spring 90th, summer 26th, fall 77th)

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 4,694 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 6,056 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 241 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 373 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 387 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 550 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, 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.