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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 46.4746, -117.5422

Estimated forage here is better than about 30% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in fall (69th percentile) and lowest in summer (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.8 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 0.8 mi N, 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. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 61st percentile (spring 56th, summer 74th, fall 70th)
  • Washington: 30th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 31st, fall 69th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 69th percentile (spring 66th, summer 72nd, fall 49th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Weedy mustards
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Canola: about 138 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi E, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 120 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Peas: about 85 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms early May – late Jun
  • Canola: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Canola: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late Apr – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Canola; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Yellow starthistle, Snowberry; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Yellow starthistle, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 37% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 76% of acres in Washington (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.