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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 43.3708, -92.1182

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (99th percentile) and lowest in summer (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.5 mi E); soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.61 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 58th, summer 89th, fall 75th)
  • Iowa: 25th percentile (spring 80th, summer 20th, fall 99th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 16th percentile (spring 89th, summer 11th, fall 97th)

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 308 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 649 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 411 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 129 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 69 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep

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

  • Heavily developed. About 60% 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.