Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

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 48.8000, -118.6131

Estimated forage here is better than about 67% of sites in Washington. Against other Washington sites it stands out most in summer (88th percentile) and lowest in spring (55th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); pears (nearest 3.7 mi E). 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 63rd, summer 86th, fall 77th)
  • Washington: 67th percentile (spring 55th, summer 88th, fall 80th)
  • Northern Rockies: 91st percentile (spring 86th, summer 88th, fall 85th)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Oct

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.