Thanks to the feature by @ghsc I am grateful to have found your excellent post @professorbromide . Here in South Africa we are grieved to see the state of the bees and the total disregard of many farmers for these incredible creatures. Due to our drought we have lost most of our hives. Hopefully they relocated. But the recent use of chemicals in this farm valley is undoubtedly another threat to the survival of the bee
Area with a lot of heavy farming do tend to have trouble with over spraying of pesticides and habitat loss. Have you tried putting out a drinking fountain during the drought? Bees like shallow water with lots of leaves or wood chips in it.
Yes. But our area hasn't been heavily farmed, until the last two years. We've had a drought for four years now, following a flood and the farmers have been forced to make drastic changes or leave. Sadly chemicals and contracts with big farming corporations has entered our community for the first time. With it the bees have left