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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 43.4161, -95.1129

Estimated forage here is better than about 5% of sites in Iowa. Against other Iowa sites it stands out most in fall (99th percentile) and lowest in summer (7th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 82nd, fall 76th)
  • Iowa: 5th percentile (spring 84th, summer 7th, fall 99th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 3rd percentile (spring 91st, summer 3rd, fall 97th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Iowa, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 164 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 127 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, 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), Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 72% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.