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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 48.1711, -122.1459

Estimated forage here is better than about 56% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (73rd percentile) and lowest in summer (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); strawberries (nearest 1.3 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); caneberries (nearest 1.3 mi N). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.44 mi W. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 68th, fall 57th)
  • Washington: 56th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 23rd, fall 53rd)
  • Puget Lowland: 7th percentile (spring 6th, summer 17th, fall 92nd)

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
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 103 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Strawberries: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms early Mar – early Jun
  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Caneberries: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms early Mar – early Jul

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, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 85% 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. Strawberries: insecticides used on about 76% of acres in Washington (2016); Caneberries: raspberries: insecticides used on about 99% of acres in Washington (2023); Caneberries: blackberries: insecticides used on about 60% of surveyed US acres (2017); Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024); Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 93% of acres in Washington (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (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.

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.