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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 43.3191, -92.8711

Estimated forage here is better than about 37% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.28 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 48th, summer 92nd, fall 57th)
  • Iowa: 37th percentile (spring 71st, summer 31st, fall 84th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 28th percentile (spring 81st, summer 21st, 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 9,055 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,718 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,591 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,445 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 364 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 358 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late 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, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; extra 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.