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 43.1016, -93.6038

Estimated forage here is better than about 63% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.45 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 52nd, summer 93rd, fall 61st)
  • Iowa: 63rd percentile (spring 75th, summer 39th, fall 91st)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 57th percentile (spring 85th, summer 30th, fall 84th)

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
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 11,094 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 689 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 5,096 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,424 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 184 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 374 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra 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, Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 55% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.