"paghat" wrote in message
news

Some people report bees abroad even in December in places where they would
not ordinarily be through hybernating, due to global warming or El Ninyo.
But their out-of-season numbers are extremely low when this happens &
spotting just one or two in December/January would be an event.

Right now around here (Puget Sound) it's still too cold for bee activity;
I've been planting bare roots this week & tramping all over SinLur
Gardens, & not noticed even one bee, though expanses of heather are in
major bloom. If we have a warm sunny few days in a row that might spark
some limited early bee activity, & I'll be glad to see them, but even the
mason bees which appear first are not emerging in noticeable numbers until
April. In essence around here anything that blooms before April will only
rarely see even one bee, & if they do see one, it'll be one fat round
bumble queen who hasn't yet given rise to a new brood.

well, i do live in the convergence zone (Snohomish) and the weather can be
quite weird up here. :-) i noticed the bees because i was out with the
dog, and she was showing far too much interest in the heather for my taste.

they're probably just confused by the unseasonable weather. i know my bulbs
are.

-kelly