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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.

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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 43.2236, -93.7914

Estimated forage here is better than about 34% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi N, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 38th, summer 92nd, fall 55th)
  • Iowa: 34th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 34th, fall 82nd)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 25th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 25th, fall 75th)

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), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 11,169 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,588 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,242 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,497 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,481 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 445 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.