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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 47.5168, -120.4659

Estimated forage here is better than about 46% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in summer (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: pears (nearest 0.2 mi SE); cherries (nearest 1.4 mi SE); apples (nearest 1.5 mi SE). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.28 mi W. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 74th percentile (spring 89th, summer 62nd, fall 65th)
  • Washington: 46th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 14th, fall 63rd)
  • Columbia Plateau: 83rd percentile (spring 95th, summer 42nd, fall 39th)

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, Maples, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to May 15 — Pears, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Pears: about 329 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Pears: about 831 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Pears: about 372 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Pears: about 678 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Pears: about 128 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Pears: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 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, Pears, Snowberry; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry, Dandelion; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Pears, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 56% 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. Pears: insecticides used on about 69% 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); 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.