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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 48.4485, -122.2370

Estimated forage here is better than about 77% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in spring (81st percentile) and lowest in summer (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); clover and wildflowers (nearest 1.0 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.1 mi W, 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: 92nd percentile (spring 98th, summer 73rd, fall 44th)
  • Washington: 77th percentile (spring 81st, summer 30th, fall 38th)
  • Puget Lowland: 21st percentile (spring 22nd, summer 32nd, fall 68th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Dandelion, Willows, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 132 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 144 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 87 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Apr – late Aug
  • Corn: about 75 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 97 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Strawberries: insecticides used on about 76% of acres in Washington (2016). 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.
  • 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.