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 46.3778, -120.7396

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in fall (88th percentile) and lowest in summer (64th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 0.7 mi NE); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); grapes (nearest 0.1 mi S). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 94th, summer 82nd, fall 84th)
  • Washington: 75th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 64th, fall 88th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 98th percentile (spring 96th, summer 88th, fall 86th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Willows, Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Apples: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Alfalfa: about 98 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Sep
  • Grapes: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Apples: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms late Apr – early May

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

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