In more than four decades as a California beekeeper, Brandi says there have only been 12 “really good” years for honey production.

He said if rains pick up in the fall and winter, “There should be more natural (nectar) sources available. Rainfall brings flowers.”

Brandi does not move his bees out of state to seek forage as some beekeepers do. He said some favor North Dakota, which he called “the most crowded bee pasture in the United States with over 600,000 colonies in the summer.”

Brandi and others said one summer crop where he has used his bees for pollination is cantaloupes.

Bee broker Joe Traynor in Kern County said some beekeepers have had to haul water to bees.

“It’s like a horse - it has to have water every day,” Traynor said. “Bees consume a lot of water.”

California State Beekeepers Association President Brad Pankratz said some natural sources for forage, including star thistle, “are starting to dry up.” Other sources, such as alfalfa and dairies, have also given way to nut crops, he said.

Pankratz, a beekeeper and queen breeder from Orland, said beekeepers have been supplementing nectar “for decades.” But they used to rely on “more steady honey flows,” he said.

His bees “surprisingly look better” despite the challenges.

He has taken no shortcuts in providing supplements, though the price for sugar fed to bees has been rising. He pointed out that a specialized feed is required, that straight corn syrup is bad for the bee’s internal organs. Instead, a corn syrup blend with sucrose is used.

“I’m not sparing any inputs,” Pankratz said, adding that he and others need to focus on nutrition and treating for pests including the varroa mite.

“If we don’t get our ducks in a row, things can fall apart in November,” he said. “We need to be on top of it.”

In California and elsewhere, nonprofit organizations are working to improve summer and winter habitat for bees.

A leader in this effort is Pheasants Forever, based in Minnesota, which is dedicated to upland habitat conservation for pheasants and other grassland-dependent species - habitat that will also increase populations of native pollinators.

“High quality nutrition forage for honeybees is exactly the same for many forms of upland wildlife and monarch butterflies,” said Pete Berthelsen, the organization’s director of habitat partnerships.

Much of the group’s efforts are focused in the Midwest and Great Plains and providing summer forage.

“The health of the honeybee hive in July and August determines the health of the hive for almond pollination,” Berthelsen said.

The group also works to protect milkweed, which he said is a “highly nutritious pollen and nectar source,” as well as being critical to the health of monarch butterflies.

The organization provides seed mixes to landowners.

Berthelsen said Pheasants Forever plans to continue work with California organizations that include Apis m., which gets its name from the scientific name for the European honeybee, Apis mellifera.

Based in Paso Robles, Apis m. funds bee research and also has developed seed mixes it provides to almond growers to foster floral diversity prior to and after almond bloom in California.

Areas where the seeds can be planted include places where trees are being taken out, in between young, non-bearing trees, as a cover crop between rows, on orchard margins or borders, along access rows and waterways, and on fallow or unused land.