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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 45.6955, -121.2780

Estimated forage here is better than about 36% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (67th percentile) and lowest in summer (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cherries (nearest 1.3 mi S); grapes (nearest 0.5 mi SW); alfalfa (nearest 1.5 mi NW, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 67th percentile (spring 78th, summer 65th, fall 56th)
  • Washington: 36th percentile (spring 67th, summer 18th, fall 52nd)
  • Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills: 76th percentile (spring 94th, summer 48th, fall 37th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Willows, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Cherries: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms late Mar – late Apr
  • Cherries: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SW, blooms late Mar – late Apr
  • Grapes: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Cherries: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi SE, blooms late Mar – late Apr
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Garden flowers, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. 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). 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.