Great opening

- I like this universe. A good read for a far-too-hot Saturday afternoon while I eat an ice cream (well, eat the second half - Deborah's Dragon instalment got the first half).
I know you said you're still researching but as a beek(eeper) I know that honey bees aren't crazy about chrysanthemums and tulips really deliver pollen rather than nectar. Really happy bees like nectar which is what they use to make the honey. Pollen is stored too but is fed mostly to the larvae. Bees would thank you for, say, a range of herbs - rosemary, sage, lemon balm, thymes and the lavenders, for eg. Whether a sudden growth of those fits the situation, though, I don't know.
Also, just an fyi, bees are rarely seen on red flowers - because red isn't in the colour spectrum they can see. And there are plenty of other bees that you may see on flowers but they aren't necessarily honey bees and they aren't, therefore, necessarily living in a hive or producing honey.
Some links that might prompt some ideas...
http://www.thedailygreen.com/going-green/tips/bee-friendly-plants http://www.themelissagarden.com/TMG_Vetaley031608.htm Obviously, feel free to disregard the above if it doesn't suit your purposes. It is a different universe, after all.