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 46.0607, -118.3996

Estimated forage here is better than about 67% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (75th percentile) and lowest in summer (26th). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cherries (nearest 1.3 mi SW); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 4 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: 84th percentile (spring 97th, summer 71st, fall 47th)
  • Washington: 67th percentile (spring 75th, summer 26th, fall 41st)
  • Columbia Plateau: 93rd percentile (spring 98th, summer 66th, fall 14th)

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
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Apr – late Jun
  • Cherries: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SW, blooms late Mar – early Apr
  • Canola: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Apr – late Jun
  • Cherries: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms late Mar – early Apr
  • Alfalfa: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Canola: about 232 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi W, blooms early Apr – late Jun

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 57% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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). 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.
  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.