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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 47.4906, -117.5830

Estimated forage here is better than about 51% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in fall (76th percentile) and lowest in summer (47th). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 0.7 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 0.5 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.57 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 69th, summer 79th, fall 75th)
  • Washington: 51st percentile (spring 62nd, summer 47th, fall 76th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 86th percentile (spring 88th, summer 82nd, fall 65th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Willows
  • Main flow: May 1 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Canola, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Garden flowers, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 221 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 257 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Peas: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Peas: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SW, blooms late May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Canola, Willows; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry, Canola, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Canola, Alfalfa; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 60% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the 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.