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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.

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 46.9492, -123.2837

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (11th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); apples (nearest 3.5 mi S); blueberries (nearest 2.5 mi W). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 100th, summer 77th, fall 10th)
  • Washington: 97th percentile (spring 98th, summer 40th, fall 11th)
  • Coast Range: 89th percentile (spring 84th, summer 63rd, fall 74th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Maples, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Maples
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Himalayan blackberry
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Apples: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.5 mi S, blooms early Apr – late Apr

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Summer-flowering shrubs, Maples, Himalayan blackberry, Huckleberries; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Himalayan blackberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Huckleberries; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Summer-flowering shrubs, Maples, Himalayan blackberry, Huckleberries; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Blueberries: insecticides used on about 91% 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.
  • 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.