>>Here in southern England <...> according to this morning's weather forecast last night was about the coldest April night on record.  At 7am this morning there were still 5 degrees F of frost in my garden.

Is there a lot of talk in your neck of the woods about the slowing down of the North Atlantic Heat Conveyor due to global warming?  This news piece is from a couple of years ago:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4485840.stm

Here on Long Island (eastern US), our climate is also moderated by the N.A. Conveyor.  So far this spring, we have only had a couple of relatively nice days.  It's been cold although the bees are taking advantage of any days when the solar heat offsets the cold breeze.

A delayed spring for us typically means a huge spring flow when plant species bloom one after another producing a seemingly seamless flow.

The trick/art is to support the bees build up in the cold weather and keep them from building swarm cells...

Waldemar

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