Arcadia Bees
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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 47.1478, -122.1092

Estimated forage here is better than about 86% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (85th percentile) and lowest in summer (45th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 99th, summer 78th, fall 58th)
  • Washington: 86th percentile (spring 85th, summer 45th, fall 54th)
  • Puget Lowland: 41st percentile (spring 35th, summer 63rd, fall 93rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Maples
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 59% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the 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.