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.

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 43.1884, -96.1360

Estimated forage here is better than about 72% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (76th percentile) and lowest in summer (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.37 mi NE.

Ranking

Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 94th, fall 51st)
Iowa: 72nd percentile (spring 75th, summer 44th, fall 76th)
Western Corn Belt Plains: 66th percentile (spring 85th, summer 36th, fall 69th)

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 13,181 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
Soybeans: about 512 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 1,394 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Corn: about 527 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
Soybeans: about 151 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Corn: about 3,375 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Garden flowers; light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; 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.