I warned that the mechanism that kept Britain unusually warm for beekeeping
was in danger of breaking down due to melting northern ice diluting
salinity back in 2004:
http://bee-quick.com/reprints/chilling.pdf

The USGS confirms that the trend continues with both warmer water temps,
and lower salinity, and specifically mentions the impact - "slowing of
Atlantic Ocean circulation", which is how Britain stays so warm for its
latitude. "Models show this change in circulation may be tied to changes in
water temperature, salinity and density in the subpolar north Atlantic."
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3256&from=rss_home

NASA confirms the USGS data with remote sensing data from the Aquarius
satellite.
http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/physical-ocean/salinity/
They even have a time-lapse video
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004050/aquarius_flat_2048x1024.mp4

That said, I would think it unreasonable to blame the losses entirely on
the winter when everyone has had such a bad year due to the varroa
infestation level.  The good news is that splits made this year will have
fewer problems with varroa than last year, as the "cycle" of varroa/bee
crash and boom implies less varroa after widespread losses.  Cold comfort,
I know.

             ***********************************************
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