Honey bee forage in Clatskanie, Oregon

When is the honey flow in Clatskanie?

• First forage: Feb 16 (dandelion, maples)
• Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 30, peaking late Apr (summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, maples)
• Season ends: Sep 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Clatskanie, 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 16.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): summer-flowering shrubs, maples, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, himalayan blackberry; light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time
• Fall honey (September to November): garden flowers, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, maples; 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

• Caneberries: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi N, blooms early Mar – early Jul
• Clover and wildflowers: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi N, blooms late Apr – late Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Pumpkins: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Sep (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 Clatskanie

Mostly: North Pacific Broadleaf Landslide Forest; North Pacific Maritime Mesic-Wet Douglas-fir-Western Hemlock Forest; Temperate Pacific Freshwater Emergent Marsh.

Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river 0.03 mi NW; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.04 mi NW.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Caneberries: raspberries: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Caneberries: blackberries: insecticides used on about 60% of surveyed US acres (2017); Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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 Clatskanie ranks

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

About 63% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Westport 8 mi · Rainier 13 mi · Prescott 16 mi · Vernonia 17 mi · Knappa 19 mi · Deer Island 21 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 Clatskanie (46.1046, -123.2045); 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.