> In times of dearth and bad drought, etc.........will hives survive 
better on lots of  honey and some pollen, or lots of pollen and some 
honey, and/or just packed honey/pollen frames?

Bees need both in the long term.  They can live for quite a while on honey 
without pollen, but not for long on pollen without honey.

If they are raising brood, bees need both pollen and honey.  If they are 
just waiting for the brooding season, they need much less pollen.  

It is the young bees of a specific age that eat pollen, I have heard, but 
older bees must also if they are called upon to raise brood, I would think.

Pollen should be covered by honey for longest storage, but open pollen 
frames are OK, too.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com
---
Food, one assumes, provides nourishment; but Americans eat it fully aware 
that small amounts of poison have been added to improve its appearance and 
delay its putrefaction. -- John Cage  

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