> The problem is not the decrease of protein content, but rather a total lack of resources, trees or plants being under hydric stress and are too weak to provide nectar or pollen to the bees. What happen to our colonies in such case then ? Brood break, until new plants grow again, after a rain fall.

This is hardly new. The history of beekeeping is one of changing conditions. For example, bees were brought to California in the 1860s. At the time, the Sacramento Valley was a paradise for bees. But that quickly changed when it began to be plowed and planted to wheat. Beekeepers moved to Southern California, where they produced record quantities of honey from sage. Then they found out that So. Cal is prone to devastating droughts. 

These cycles of boom and bust are found in almost every region. in the 1800s, this area was planted to clover and buckwheat. It was one of the greatest honey producing locations in the world at the time. But the farmers went west and the woods came back. Now, there is little agriculture and the honey comes mostly from wild flowers (flowering trees and shrubs, and so-called weeds). Life is change, you have to change with it.

PLB
Ithaca, NY. USA

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