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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 48.6494, -118.7319

Estimated forage here is better than about 67% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in summer (86th percentile) and lowest in spring (55th). Biggest nearby bee crops: pears (nearest 1.1 mi E); alfalfa (nearest 1.8 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 64th, summer 86th, fall 81st)
  • Washington: 67th percentile (spring 55th, summer 86th, fall 84th)
  • Northern Rockies: 91st percentile (spring 86th, summer 86th, fall 88th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Willows, Maples
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Sep 15 — Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Pears: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early May – late May
  • Pears: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early May – late May
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.7 mi S, blooms late Jun – late 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, Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Snowberry, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. 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.

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.