Click here for a pie chart on residential water use. Honey production has suffered, too. Dry conditions mean flowering plants don't produce as much pollen, a main source of protein and vitamins for bees. The plants also don't produce as much nectar, the sweet liquid bees collect from flowers to make honey. Ideally, honey bees need ample rainfall in the early spring and then dry conditions in May, when the bulk of the honey is produced.
Nectar production is the first to go.
In Louisiana, where rainfall is 20 inches below normal along the state's vast coastal marshes and salty water from the Gulf of Mexico is seeping into fresh water estuaries, oyster fishermen are hauling up increasing numbers of empty shells. Rice crops are being hard hit, as saltwater creeps into aquifers beneath the fields, contaminating wells used for irrigation and causing rice to expel water, rather than absorb it. Farmers are also planting less than they would in a regular season. The Florida Department of Agriculture said last month that crops such as cotton, soybeans, corn, watermelons, hay and some vegetables have suffered across 90 percent of the state's counties. Bill Ramsey, who grows blueberries in north-central Florida, says he fears he could lose most or all of his crop.