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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 47.9640, -117.4401

Estimated forage here is better than about 74% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in spring (60th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi E); blueberries (nearest 0.5 mi NW); canola (nearest 1.7 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.3 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 68th, summer 88th, fall 97th)
  • Washington: 74th percentile (spring 60th, summer 94th, fall 97th)
  • Northern Rockies: 98th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 94th, fall 96th)

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 Aug 15 — Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Blueberries: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Blueberries: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early May – early Jun

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Blueberries: insecticides used on about 91% 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.