I'm in Western Washington State. USDA Zone 7b. 5-10 degrees for lows, 90+ for summer high temps. We always have a few days in summer around 100, a few days below 0 with wind chill. My average winter time temps are 35-40 degrees. Wet climate. Looks like Sunset magazine has it's own ratings, but shows average conditions for my location. I'm 3 hours from the Canadian border but close enough to the Pacific to have my temps moderated somewhat, except for occasional storms or Arctic flows http://www.sunset.com/.../sunset-climate-zone-western... ZONE 4: Cold-winter areas of the north coast and mild-winter areas of Alaska and British Columbia My bees usually have no more than a few weeks at a time for hive confinement periods during winter when they can't get out for cleansing flights of some sort. *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html