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 47.2816, -117.1556

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it ranks highest in summer (47th percentile) and lowest in spring (17th). Biggest nearby bee crops: chickpeas (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); lentils (nearest 0.3 mi SE, 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: 54th percentile (spring 37th, summer 79th, fall 51st)
  • Washington: 25th percentile (spring 17th, summer 47th, fall 46th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 61st percentile (spring 21st, summer 82nd, fall 18th)

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 16 to Jul 31 — Chick Peas, Lentils, Canola
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Chickpeas: about 268 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Chickpeas: about 443 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Chickpeas: about 79 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Chickpeas: about 151 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Canola: about 78 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 85 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 56% 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.