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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 48.0657, -122.0815

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in fall (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.4 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); clover and wildflowers (nearest 3.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); pumpkins (nearest 2.7 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 100th, summer 79th, fall 40th)
  • Washington: 98th percentile (spring 97th, summer 47th, fall 33rd)
  • Puget Lowland: 89th percentile (spring 84th, summer 67th, fall 61st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Maples, Willows
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Maples, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Himalayan blackberry
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi NE, blooms late Apr – late Aug
  • Pumpkins: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Oct
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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.

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.