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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 48.4724, -120.1799

Estimated forage here is better than about 47% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in fall (87th percentile) and lowest in summer (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 0.7 mi N); pears (nearest 1.6 mi SE); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.12 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 74th, summer 73rd, fall 84th)
  • Washington: 47th percentile (spring 64th, summer 30th, fall 87th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 84th percentile (spring 91st, summer 71st, fall 85th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Willows
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Sep 15 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms early May – late May
  • Pears: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Apples: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early May – late May
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Oct

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Willows, Snowberry; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry, Willows; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 76% of acres in Washington (2025); Pears: insecticides used on about 69% of acres in Washington (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.
  • 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.