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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.

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 47.4161, -120.2844

Estimated forage here is better than about 52% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (73rd percentile) and lowest in summer (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 0.7 mi NE); cherries (nearest 0.8 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi N. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 63rd, fall 66th)
  • Washington: 52nd percentile (spring 73rd, summer 15th, fall 64th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 86th percentile (spring 96th, summer 45th, fall 41st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Maples, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Apples: about 352 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Cherries: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Cherries: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Apples: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Apples: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early May

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 84% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 76% of acres in Washington (2025); Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 93% of acres in Washington (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (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.
  • 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.