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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.

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 45.6146, -118.7086

Estimated forage here is better than about 54% of sites in Oregon. Against other Oregon sites it stands out most in spring (67th percentile) and lowest in fall (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here); camelina (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); rapeseed (nearest 2.9 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 57th percentile (spring 57th, summer 74th, fall 38th)
  • Oregon: 54th percentile (spring 67th, summer 66th, fall 30th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 64th percentile (spring 69th, summer 71st, fall 8th)

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 16 to Aug 15 — Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 109 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Camelina: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 41% 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. Watermelons: insecticides used on about 38% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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.

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.