Honey bee forage in Desert Aire, Washington

When is the honey flow in Desert Aire?

• First forage: Mar 1 (dandelion, cherries, clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Main flow: Apr 1 to Apr 30, peaking early Apr (apples, cherries, dandelion)
• Season ends: Sep 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Desert Aire, 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 16.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): apples, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, cherries; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): alfalfa, dandelion, garden flowers, clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): alfalfa, garden flowers, green/yellow rabbitbrush, rubber rabbitbrush; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): apples, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, alfalfa; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months

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

Bee crops within flight range

• Apples: about 577 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Apr – late Apr
• Cherries: about 210 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Mar – early 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 Desert Aire

Mostly: Open water; Apples; Columbia Plateau Steppe and Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river 0.38 mi NE; open water 0.41 mi NE.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 76% of acres in Washington (2025); Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 93% of acres in Washington (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (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.

How Desert Aire ranks

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

Nearby

Mattawa 3 mi · Schwana 9 mi · Beverly 10 mi · Vantage 18 mi · Royal City 20 mi · Moxee 24 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 Desert Aire (46.6942, -119.9291); 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.