Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 42.6913, -120.5468

Estimated forage here is better than about 44% of sites in Oregon. Against other Oregon sites it stands out most in fall (71st percentile) and lowest in summer (48th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 41st percentile (spring 44th, summer 62nd, fall 76th)
  • Oregon: 44th percentile (spring 57th, summer 48th, fall 71st)
  • Northern Basin and Range: 90th percentile (spring 97th, summer 84th, fall 29th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Oregon, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Weedy mustards
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 — Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 256 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 150 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers, Weedy mustards; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Clovers: white, alsike and red; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.