Honey bee forage in Spray, Oregon

When is the honey flow in Spray?

• First forage: Mar 1 (dandelion, weedy mustards, clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Main flow: Mar 16 to Aug 15, peaking late Apr (alfalfa, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 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 Spray, 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 19.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, alfalfa, native wildflowers; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Summer honey (July and August): alfalfa, spotted and diffuse knapweed, green/yellow rabbitbrush, rubber rabbitbrush; extra 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, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): alfalfa, dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months

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

Bee crops within flight range

• Alfalfa: about 109 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Cherries: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Mar – late Apr
• Apples: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Apr – 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 Spray

Mostly: Inter-Mountain Basins Big Sagebrush Shrubland; Columbia Plateau Western Juniper Woodland and Savanna; Inter-Mountain Basins Big Sagebrush Steppe.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.02 mi W; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.08 mi SW.

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); Peaches: insecticides used on about 86% 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 Spray ranks

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

Nearby

Lonerock 18 mi · Monument 18 mi · Fossil 24 mi · Mitchell 25 mi · Dayville 28 mi · Condon 34 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 Spray (44.8331, -119.7941); 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.