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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 47.2249, -117.0730

Estimated forage here is better than about 42% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in summer (68th percentile) and lowest in spring (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); lentils (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 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: 72nd percentile (spring 51st, summer 83rd, fall 63rd)
  • Washington: 42nd percentile (spring 36th, summer 68th, fall 61st)
  • Columbia Plateau: 82nd percentile (spring 55th, summer 89th, fall 36th)

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 — Chick Peas, Lentils, Canola
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 189 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Chickpeas: about 1,346 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Lentils: about 313 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 134 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Chickpeas: about 114 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 50% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.