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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 46.5397, -117.0872

Estimated forage here is better than about 43% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in summer (76th percentile) and lowest in fall (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: chickpeas (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); lentils (nearest 0.4 mi SE, 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: 73rd percentile (spring 51st, summer 85th, fall 32nd)
  • Washington: 43rd percentile (spring 37th, summer 76th, fall 27th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 82nd percentile (spring 57th, summer 92nd, fall 6th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Canola, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Jul 31 — Chick Peas, Canola
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Chickpeas: about 7,946 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Canola: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Canola: about 75 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Canola: about 537 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Canola: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Canola: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Apr – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 56% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.