Honey bee forage in Biggs Junction, Oregon

When is the honey flow in Biggs Junction?

• First forage: Feb 16 (dandelion, weedy mustards, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: Mar 16 to Aug 15, peaking late Apr (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), spotted and diffuse knapweed, dandelion)
• Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 (spotted and diffuse knapweed, yellow starthistle, green/yellow rabbitbrush)
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Biggs Junction, 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 15.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, native wildflowers; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Summer honey (July and August): spotted and diffuse knapweed, yellow starthistle, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion; light amber, likely to set over some months
• Fall honey (September to November): spotted and diffuse knapweed, green/yellow rabbitbrush, yellow starthistle, rubber rabbitbrush; amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), spotted and diffuse knapweed, dandelion, yellow starthistle; light amber, likely to set over some months

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 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NE, blooms late Mar – early Apr
• Peaches: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Mar – early Apr
• Apricots: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms late Mar – early Apr

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 Biggs Junction

Mostly: Great Basin & Intermountain Introduced Annual Grassland; Winter Wheat; Fallow / idle cropland.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.03 mi NE; pond, lake or river 0.37 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); Peaches: insecticides used on about 86% of surveyed US acres (2025); Apricots: insecticides used on about 76% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes (all types): insecticides used on about 58% of surveyed US acres (2021); Grapes, wine type: insecticides used on about 56% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, table type: insecticides used on about 50% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, raisin type: 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 Biggs Junction ranks

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

Nearby

Rufus 5 mi · Wasco 8 mi · Moro 13 mi · The Dalles 16 mi · Chenoweth 19 mi · Dufur 20 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 Biggs Junction (45.664, -120.8392); 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.