Bill may argue against Global Warming.  And I indicated that I'm  skeptical 
of the purported cause.  However, in my short life-time, there  has been a 
decided shift in our weather in Montana, and the Glaciers of Glacier  Park 
are clearly melting away.  I don't doubt the predictions of no  glaciers by 
2030, there's not much left now.  That wasn't the case in my  youth, nor in 
any recorded history.
 
Whether you choose to believe the Global Warming folks or not, we  do have 
one of the leading groups in climate monitoring and modeling at our  
University, and they predict that this change is not going to be  short-lived.  For 
them, this isn't hype; they truly believe that we are in  the midst of a 
change.
 
Their advice to beekeepers and growers, expect to see the current trends  
continuing for a long time, starting planning on it as it affects your   
beekeeping schedules.  
 
Plan on adjusting your schedules to account for a shift in seasons, its not 
 likely to reverse any time soon. 
 
In Montana, spring is occurring earlier, and each year for past 10  yrs 
we've set a new record for hottest temperature for a specific day in  the 
spring  - its warming up faster, so we get warmer days, sooner.   This change 
does not seem to be affecting conditions as much in the fall, we  still get 
cold and snow about the same time as we've always   experienced.
 
Our climate guys think that in the NW, part of this  earlier spring warm up 
may be due to the snow melt.  In the past,  there was a lot of snow covered 
peaks and land.  With the melt back,  there's more bare land exposed, 
sooner in the spring.  More of the sun's  energy is absorbed by bare ground than 
by reflective snow.
 
Anyway, I'm glad to no longer see -40 F degree winters.  In Missoula,  
anything below 0 is becoming uncommon.  We have adjusted our bee season to  plan 
on an earlier start.  I'm from a farm background.  I had to work  in the 
cold and snow for most of my childhood and early adulthood.  Last  decade, 
winters in MT are nothing like I previously experienced in terms of  cold.  We 
do still get snow, and sometimes record snow, but that's what our  climate 
guys predict - wetter winters, drier summers.
 
I don't need fancy models to tell me that things have changes.   Whether it 
will shift back in my life time, I doubt it - but then again, I've  not got 
a lot of years left.  Our grand kids will know.
 
Jerry

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