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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 45.6935, -120.8087

Estimated forage here is better than about 17% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring and fall (52nd percentile) and lowest in summer (9th). Biggest nearby bee crops: peaches (nearest 0.2 mi S); cherries (nearest 0.6 mi SW); alfalfa (nearest 0.8 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 46th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 57th, fall 56th)
  • Washington: 17th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 9th, fall 52nd)
  • Columbia Plateau: 47th percentile (spring 79th, summer 27th, fall 24th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Weedy mustards
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Dandelion, Weedy mustards
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Peaches: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Mar – early Apr
  • Cherries: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Peaches: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Mar – early Apr
  • Alfalfa: about 105 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Grapes: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late May – late Jun

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Peaches: insecticides used on about 86% of surveyed US acres (2025); Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 93% of acres in Washington (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes (all types): insecticides used on about 34% of acres in Washington (2025); Grapes, wine type: insecticides used on about 34% of acres in Washington (2025); Grapes, table type: insecticides used on about 50% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, raisin type: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025); Plums: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2025); Apricots: insecticides used on about 76% 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.

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.