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 45.5910, -120.6968

Estimated forage here is better than about 55% of sites in Oregon. Against other Oregon sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in fall (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cherries (nearest 0.4 mi S); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 2.5 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.1 mi SW. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 58th percentile (spring 76th, summer 58th, fall 51st)
  • Oregon: 55th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 43rd, fall 36th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 66th percentile (spring 91st, summer 30th, fall 18th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jun 30 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Aug 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Cherries: about 147 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Alfalfa: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi S, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Cherries; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Cherries; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 46% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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). 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.
  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.