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 46.0426, -118.6720

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in summer (66th percentile) and lowest in fall (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); apples (nearest 0.2 mi N); peas (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.18 mi E. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 69th, summer 82nd, fall 20th)
  • Washington: 53rd percentile (spring 62nd, summer 66th, fall 18th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 87th percentile (spring 89th, summer 89th, fall 3rd)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 5,879 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 1,350 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 1,395 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 282 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Apples: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Apr – late Apr

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 76% of acres in Washington (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). 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.