The Texas Drought

El Niño begins to bear

It’s been a tough couple of years. The last two years have seen below-normal rainfall. While not unusual in the Hill Country, they have been remarkable for the depth and severity during the Texas drought. During the years ending September 2022 and 2023 we measured just 11.75 and 10.65 inches respectively. That compares with an average rainfall of between 30 and 35 inches. In other words, about a third of our normal annual rainfall.

Where are all the bees?

Among other things, I’ve been worried about the bees. Oh, the drought is hard on everything, and we’ve lost some trees as a result of the scant rainfall — no small loss — but I suspect it’s especially hard on the insect populations. We’ve noticed, for example, that our garden wasn’t as productive as usual. The plants looked healthy, they just didn’t produce as many tomatoes.

Part of that is heat, because tomatoes won’t set fruit if the nighttime temperatures don’t fall below 85 degrees Fahrenheit at night. There were plenty of nights like that this summer. But also, there didn’t seem to be as many bees. An even more emphatic reminder, I noticed many days of bees clustering around our pet’s water dish and drinking air conditioner condensate. Dozens of thirsty bees trucking water back to the hive. I’ve never seen that before.

A little bit of rain . . .

Then we had a little rain around the middle of September. Between the 13th and 16th, we had nearly an inch and a half. While I’m grateful for any rain we get, that didn’t seem like much after the desiccated summer, and I didn’t expect much to change.

. . . makes dramatic changes.

After a little easing of the Texas drought, I was in for a big surprise. I usually take a short walk around the place before breakfast, and on September 25, I noticed some brilliant color on the sages that line the deck. Since a blooming Texas Sage is thought to predict rain, I thought “Oh, good — maybe we’ll get a little moisture!”

The bees are back!

As I approached the bushes, I notices a loud buzzing or humming sound. Closer inspection revealed hundreds of bees at work on the thousands of Texas Sage blossoms. At this point, only one of the bushes was blooming, but I could see that the others weren’t far behind. By a couple of days later, the entire hedge of Texas Sage was brilliantly covered. A display such as I’ve rarely seen before. This was the result of the rain from 10 days before.

The bees worked on the sages for several days — mostly in the morning. Afternoon temperatures were still reaching 100 degrees or more, and that’s too hot for anybody — even a bee to be working.

A rare(ish) butterfly

The end of the week produced the best surprise of all. I had seen several Black Swallowtail butterflies (papilio polyxenes) during the week, but wasn’t quick enough to get a picture. Then on Thursday, while having a ramble with our two dogs, I noticed a flash of brilliant yellow on one of the sages. iPhone in hand, I got closer. It fluttered away, too far for a decent shot.

We finished our walk and I decided to check one more time. A beautiful Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) was working its way up a branch of florescent flowers. I was able to get several shots. I can’t remember seeing one of these at Roy Creek Ranch before.

Overall, it was a very hopeful sign. In spite of historic drought and temperature extremes, nature perseveres. Perhaps we’ll see a return to more normal rain this fall and everything can recover a little. Marilyn and I had started adding bee and butterfly-friendly plants to our landscape a couple of years ago, and I plan to continue. Here’s looking forward to healthier gardens in the coming year!