I came across two of my beekeeping friends staring intently at a dense patch of Ivy along an old brick wall not far from their collection of hives. As noted in my previous entry Ivy has flowered very early this year and may finish early. Ivy is the last big hit of nectar and pollen for honey bees so that would have consequences. 

 Moreover they observed they were seeing wasps on the flowers but no honey bees. They speculated the flowers may be of less interest to the bees for some reason e.g. less pollen and nectar as a result of the drought. If so that would be double trouble.