Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 47.2688, -122.8320

Estimated forage here is better than about 78% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (84th percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 1.7 mi NE). 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: 93rd percentile (spring 99th, summer 67th, fall 23rd)
  • Washington: 78th percentile (spring 84th, summer 22nd, fall 20th)
  • Puget Lowland: 23rd percentile (spring 33rd, summer 15th, fall 34th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Maples, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NE, blooms early Apr – late Apr

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 76% 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.