Honey bee forage in Gandy, Nebraska

When is the honey flow in Gandy?

• First forage: Mar 16 (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, native wildflowers)
• Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31, peaking early Jul (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), alfalfa)
• Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 (fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Gandy, 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 6.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), native wildflowers, dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Summer honey (July and August): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), alfalfa, soybeans; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), alfalfa, native wildflowers; extra light amber, likely to set over some months

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 283 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)

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 Gandy

Mostly: Western Great Plains Sand Prairie; Central Mixedgrass Prairie Grassland; Western Great Plains Riparian Herbaceous.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.22 mi E; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.57 mi E.

How Gandy ranks

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

About 75% 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

Stapleton 3 mi · Arnold 14 mi · Tryon 26 mi · Maxwell 27 mi · North Platte 28 mi · Callaway 30 mi

All towns in Nebraska · 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 Gandy (41.4697, -100.4583); 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.