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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.

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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 45.5707, -117.5284

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in Oregon. Against other Oregon sites it stands out most in summer (85th percentile) and lowest in spring (69th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.2 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.12 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 64th, summer 82nd, fall 85th)
  • Oregon: 76th percentile (spring 69th, summer 85th, fall 84th)
  • Blue Mountains: 98th percentile (spring 98th, summer 70th, fall 84th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 125 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 197 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 110 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 304 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Yellow starthistle, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry, Alfalfa; 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.