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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 45.6804, -118.6489

Estimated forage here is better than about 62% of sites in Oregon. Against other Oregon sites it stands out most in spring (73rd percentile) and lowest in fall (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: peas (nearest 0.8 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); mustard (nearest 1.3 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); camelina (nearest 1.4 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.12 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 65th percentile (spring 80th, summer 63rd, fall 43rd)
  • Oregon: 62nd percentile (spring 73rd, summer 50th, fall 32nd)
  • Columbia Plateau: 74th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 45th, fall 11th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Willows, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Willows
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Peas: about 146 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late Apr – early Jun
  • Mustard: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms early May – late Jun
  • Peas: about 253 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi W, blooms late Apr – early Jun
  • Camelina: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Peas: about 88 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi E, blooms late Apr – early Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 38% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).

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.