dearth
noun; formal

- an amount or supply that isn’t large enough

- an inadequate quantity, especially of food

- a scarcity that makes something expensive; historically, famine

Cambridge Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

Dearth appeared in Middle English as derthe around 1300. It was formed from the ancestor of dear, meaning precious or expensive, plus the noun-forming suffix -th, also found in depth, strength and truth.

Its earliest recorded sense was a shortage of food. The connection between high prices and scarcity was painfully practical: when harvests failed, food became “dear”. The word soon broadened to cover other shortages.

Although modern dear usually suggests affection, its financial meaning survives in expressions such as “prices are too dear”. German preserves the same connection clearly: English dear and German teuer are linguistic relatives. A dearth, then, was originally the condition that made necessities dear.

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WHEN THE FLOWERS GO QUIET

A field may look colourful and still provide bees with remarkably little food. Flowers don’t produce nectar continuously; heat, drought and the stage of flowering can all reduce the supply.

Beekeepers call such a period a nectar dearth. The term sounds almost biblical, but it describes a practical seasonal problem. Worker bees continue searching, yet return with less nectar than the colony consumes.

Their behaviour may then change. Bees can become unusually interested in spilled fruit juice, animal feed or plants they previously ignored. Colonies may reduce brood production, conserving the stores needed by their existing population.

Scarcity can also turn neighbouring hives from fellow communities into targets. Bees may enter a weaker colony and carry away its honey. Once this “robbing” begins, the struggle can become fierce, which is why beekeepers avoid leaving honey or syrup exposed near their hives.

The drones—the male bees—face an especially brutal economy. They gather no food and take no part in defending the colony. When resources become scarce, workers may drive them from the hive, where they soon die.

A nectar dearth is therefore not simply an empty larder. It changes what bees notice, whom they tolerate and which lives the colony can afford to support.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

absence, deficiency, DEARTH, insufficiency, lack, paucity, scarcity, shortage, want

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“There’s no DEARTH of opinions, but reliable evidence is harder to find.”

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