Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 48.3360, -122.3429

Estimated forage here is better than about 59% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (69th percentile) and lowest in summer (42nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); pumpkins (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 2 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: 80th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 78th, fall 61st)
  • Washington: 59th percentile (spring 69th, summer 42nd, fall 57th)
  • Puget Lowland: 7th percentile (spring 4th, summer 58th, fall 96th)

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 Aug 15 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 292 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 129 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Pumpkins: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Sep
  • Corn: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Maples; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Pumpkins, Dry Beans, Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Pumpkins, Squash, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Pumpkins, Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024); Squash: insecticides used on about 71% of surveyed US acres (2024); Blueberries: insecticides used on about 91% of acres in Washington (2025); Caneberries: raspberries: insecticides used on about 99% of acres in Washington (2023); Caneberries: blackberries: insecticides used on about 60% of surveyed US acres (2017). 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.
  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.