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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 47.0083, -117.1398

Estimated forage here is better than about 42% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in summer (73rd percentile) and lowest in spring (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: lentils (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 50th, summer 84th, fall 46th)
  • Washington: 42nd percentile (spring 36th, summer 73rd, fall 40th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 81st percentile (spring 54th, summer 91st, fall 14th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Lentils, Canola, Chick Peas
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Lentils: about 713 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Lentils: about 693 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Canola: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Lentils: about 966 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Canola: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 58% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.