>I have a rural acre a few miles from town and I've thought about putting some hives there. My acre is surrounded by corn and soybean fields. There are very few farmers raising cattle or other livestock in this part of Iowa anymore so there are no hay fields to speak of so no clover. Where would my bees go to gather nectar? Soy beans do flower but I can't imagine what that honey would taste like.
Soybean honey is great. It produces well too, most years.
> I have a few trees on the acre and a lot of weeds but there is nothing else for miles. Could I be successful if I placed a couple of hives on my property. TIA........Steve
I'm in the middle of corn and soybeans also. There is an alfalfa field down the road, but they cut it as soon as it blooms. Don't underestimate how much nectar the weeds in the ditches will make, not to mention the locust trees etc.
The bees will forage the 8,000 acres around you. They will probably do very well.
You can also plant some clover and chickory and goldenrod in the road right of ways for two miles in every direction. That's a lot of area in itself.
I have about 30 hives or more (hard to say with all the mating nucs I make and then conbine) in my home yard. You probably won't have near that many.