Honey bee forage in Green Bluff, Washington

When is the honey flow in Green Bluff?

• First forage: Apr 1 (dandelion, willows)
• Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31, peaking early Jul (snowberry, alfalfa)
• Season ends: Oct 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Green Bluff, 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 May 12.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): snowberry, dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, alfalfa; light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Summer honey (July and August): snowberry, alfalfa, sunflower, spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): alfalfa, spotted and diffuse knapweed, pumpkins, clovers: white, alsike and red; white, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): alfalfa, snowberry, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion; 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

• Canola: about 214 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SW, blooms late Apr – early Jul (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Oct (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Sunflower: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Apples: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early May – late May

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 Green Bluff

Mostly: Northern Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine Woodland and Savanna; Northern Rocky Mountain Dry-Mesic Montane Mixed Conifer Forest; Northern Rocky Mountain Montane-Foothill Deciduous Shrubland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.12 mi E; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.13 mi SE.

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); Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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 Green Bluff ranks

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

Nearby

Mead 4 mi · Fairwood 8 mi · Country Homes 8 mi · Millwood 9 mi · Town and Country 9 mi · Spokane Valley 11 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 Green Bluff (47.8184, -117.2748); 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.