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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 48.3922, -122.4916

Estimated forage here is better than about 50% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (70th percentile) and lowest in summer (25th). Biggest nearby bee crops: blueberries (nearest 0.9 mi N); corn (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); squash (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.22 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 86th, summer 70th, fall 54th)
  • Washington: 50th percentile (spring 70th, summer 25th, fall 49th)
  • Puget Lowland: 5th percentile (spring 4th, summer 20th, fall 86th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Blueberries: about 117 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Corn: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Squash: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late May – late Sep
  • Corn: about 118 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 284 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Apr – 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): Summer-flowering shrubs, Squash, Dry Beans, Clover/Wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Squash, Garden flowers, Pumpkins, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Maples; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Blueberries: insecticides used on about 91% of acres in Washington (2025); Squash: insecticides used on about 71% of surveyed US acres (2024); Cucumbers: insecticides used on about 36% 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.
  • 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.