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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 46.6424, -118.5544

Estimated forage here is better than about 27% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in fall (62nd percentile) and lowest in summer (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi SE); grapes (nearest 0.6 mi S); corn (nearest 1.1 mi E, 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: 56th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 65th, fall 64th)
  • Washington: 27th percentile (spring 55th, summer 18th, fall 62nd)
  • Columbia Plateau: 63rd percentile (spring 81st, summer 52nd, fall 38th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Arrowleaf balsamroot
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Aug 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Yellow starthistle, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Grapes: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Yellow starthistle, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Yellow starthistle, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Yellow starthistle, Dandelion; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. 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.
  • 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.