I would have thought Chicago and SE New York would have similar weather. 
Almanac says Chicago should have spring weather now.  Average high for March
9th is 43 deg f.  The reality is that the  ground is still well frozen and
the temps haven't topped 30 deg. more than a few days in the last month.  No
buds swelling, no early bulbs pushing up.  Ice.

I suspect that we manage spring differently here because the temps vary more
(than New York).  After several weeks of warmth and hives raising brood, we
get a whole week of freezing afternoons and snow flurries.  The bees and the
native plants do OK.

One day last week it was 35 deg and sunny. I watched one bee at a time come
out, sit in the sun, then fly off.  Didn't see any come back.  Do they know
what they are doing?  Another oddity--Chicago had two 60+ degree sunny days
around January 4-5.  There was a noisy swarm of bees flying around the hive
on my garage roof.

****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm   *
****************************************************