Honey bee forage in Deer Island, Oregon

When is the honey flow in Deer Island?

• First forage: Feb 1 (dandelion, willows, early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15, peaking late Apr (summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, maples)
• Season ends: Aug 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Deer Island, 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 10.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, maples, 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, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), garden flowers, spotted and diffuse knapweed, clovers: white, alsike and red; amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, maples, dandelion; 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

• Strawberries: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi E, blooms early Mar – late May (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Caneberries: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms early Mar – late Jun
• Peas: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi E, blooms late Apr – late May (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Blueberries: about 141 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi SE, blooms late Mar – late 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 Deer Island

Mostly: North Pacific Maritime Dry-Mesic Douglas-fir-Western Hemlock Forest; Open water; Western Cool Temperate Pasture and Hayland.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.04 mi W; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.04 mi W.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Strawberries: insecticides used on about 96% of surveyed US acres (2025); Caneberries: raspberries: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Caneberries: blackberries: insecticides used on about 60% of surveyed US acres (2017); Blueberries: insecticides used on about 74% 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 Deer Island ranks

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

About 61% 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

Columbia City 3 mi · St. Helens 6 mi · Prescott 8 mi · Warren 8 mi · Rainier 11 mi · Scappoose 12 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 Deer Island (45.933, -122.8498); 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.