Honey bee forage in Carnation, Washington

When is the honey flow in Carnation?

• First forage: Feb 1 (dandelion, willows, early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15, peaking late Apr (summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, maples)
• Season ends: Aug 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Carnation, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on Apr 8.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, maples, dandelion; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, garden flowers; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): garden flowers, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), pumpkins, spotted and diffuse knapweed; amber
• Whole season (March to November): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, maples; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Corn: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug (grown 4 of the last 5 years)
• Sunflower: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Pumpkins: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late May – late Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Caneberries: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms late Feb – late Jun
• Blueberries: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late Mar – late Apr

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Carnation

Mostly: North Pacific Maritime Mesic-Wet Douglas-fir-Western Hemlock Forest; North Pacific Broadleaf Landslide Forest; North Pacific Lowland Riparian Forest.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.02 mi S; pond, lake or river 0.12 mi S.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024); Caneberries: raspberries: insecticides used on about 99% of acres in Washington (2023); Caneberries: blackberries: insecticides used on about 60% of surveyed US acres (2017); Blueberries: insecticides used on about 91% of acres in Washington (2025); 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.

How Carnation ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 54% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Ames Lake 3 mi · Lake Marcel-Stillwater 4 mi · Fall City 5 mi · Union Hill-Novelty Hill 6 mi · Duvall 7 mi · Snoqualmie 7 mi

All towns in Washington · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Carnation (47.6442, -121.9007); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.