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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 48.4851, -121.6092

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in summer (82nd percentile) and lowest in fall (26th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 0.1 mi E); clover and wildflowers (nearest 1.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); grapes (nearest 1.3 mi E). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 98th, summer 85th, fall 32nd)
  • Washington: 85th percentile (spring 81st, summer 82nd, fall 26th)
  • North Cascades: 96th percentile (spring 96th, summer 73rd, fall 25th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Willows, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 15 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Maples, Himalayan blackberry
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early May – late May
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early May – early Sep
  • Apples: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early May – late May
  • Apples: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early May – late May
  • Grapes: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Grapes: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 76% of acres in Washington (2025); Grapes (all types): insecticides used on about 34% of acres in Washington (2025); Grapes, wine type: insecticides used on about 34% of acres in Washington (2025); Grapes, table type: insecticides used on about 50% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, raisin type: insecticides used on about 77% 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.
  • 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.