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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 47.1996, -117.9066

Estimated forage here is better than about 24% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in fall (78th percentile) and lowest in summer (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi W); chickpeas (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 1.4 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 54th percentile (spring 57th, summer 65th, fall 76th)
  • Washington: 24th percentile (spring 47th, summer 18th, fall 78th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 59th percentile (spring 70th, summer 51st, fall 67th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Willows, Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 31 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Willows, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 — Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Oct
  • Chickpeas: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.