Honey bee forage in Arlington, Oregon

When is the honey flow in Arlington?

• First forage: Feb 16 (weedy mustards, dandelion, arrowleaf balsamroot)
• Main flow: Mar 16 to Aug 31, peaking late Apr (native wildflowers, spotted and diffuse knapweed, arrowleaf balsamroot)
• Fall flow: Sep 16 to Oct 15 (green/yellow rabbitbrush, rubber rabbitbrush, spotted and diffuse knapweed)
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Arlington, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on Apr 17.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): native wildflowers, arrowleaf balsamroot, weedy mustards, spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): spotted and diffuse knapweed, native wildflowers, green/yellow rabbitbrush, yellow starthistle; light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): green/yellow rabbitbrush, rubber rabbitbrush, spotted and diffuse knapweed, yellow starthistle; dark amber
• Whole season (March to November): native wildflowers, spotted and diffuse knapweed, green/yellow rabbitbrush, arrowleaf balsamroot; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Cherries: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi W, blooms late Mar – late Apr
• Apples: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi W, blooms early Apr – late Apr
• Alfalfa: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Arlington

Mostly: Columbia Plateau Steppe and Grassland; Open water; Great Basin & Intermountain Introduced Annual Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.7 mi S; open water 0.81 mi NW.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (2025); Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

How Arlington ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

Nearby

Ione 23 mi · Boardman 25 mi · Wasco 27 mi · Rufus 28 mi · Lexington 31 mi · Moro 32 mi

All towns in Oregon · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Arlington (45.7256, -120.1767); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.