>My point is that yes bees are extremely adaptable, but one effect of global
warming is an increase in frequency of extreme weather events and this is
going to affect bees and beekeepers

The weather does not have to be dramatically extreme to cause major
problems.  Last year (2012) saw one of the worst summers that I can remember
- endless gloom and rain.  This reduced the amount of pollen collected to
almost nothing - for most of the summer and autumn it was noticeable that
there was none in the combs.  The knock-on effect was that colonies failed
to build and went into winter in very poor condition.  The wet weather also
hampered mating and queens failed throughout the 'summer'; perhaps worse,
many made it to winter and then failed in the spring.  This resulted in the
worst losses I and many others have ever seen.
Fortunately this year has been very good - after a very late start - and
although we did not recover all the losses, the colonies have gone into
winter in excellent condition.
It is frightening to consider what the consequences would have been if this
year has been like last.

Best wishes
 
Peter
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W

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