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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 48.0551, -123.0874

Estimated forage here is better than about 82% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.9 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.8 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.1 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 98th, summer 79th, fall 62nd)
  • Washington: 82nd percentile (spring 82nd, summer 50th, fall 58th)
  • Puget Lowland: 32nd percentile (spring 25th, summer 74th, fall 97th)

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: Mar 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Sep
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.