Hello All... On the West Coast of Canada (Vancouver), we have been experiencing some rather abnormal dryness and warm conditions that have me wondering if this is going to cause problems with our colonies. Being that Vancouver is situated in a temperate rain forest climate, we ususally start to get rain for extended periods in October, accompanied by much cooler temps (not below freezing). These rains and cool temps continue throughout the Winter, and does it ever rain!! Seattle is a sunny paradise compared to Vancouver at this time of year!!! Anyhow, this year Vancouver has received little to no rain for 4 months and there has been nothing more that a drizzle for several days in October. Although, the evenings are cool and misty, the outdoor temps - both day & night - have been much warmer than ususal. In fact, I still see quite a few drones hanging about the hive entrances, when they should have been long evicted. Also, given the warm temps the bees are extrordinarily busy bringing large quantities of pollen (bright yellow-dandelion, I surmise). I've already done the winter preparations and am still feeding with 2:1 Sugar syrup and the bees are lapping it up as fast as it can be supplied. All the hives are winter wrapped in 1/2 polystyrene and Roofing tar paper and entrances reduced to 2" with 1/4" hardware mesh over the entrance. The upper entrance on the inner-board is also open. My concerns are as follows; 1/... Given the warm temps and dry weather, will the winter wrap give the hive a false sense weather and they don't properly go into winter prep mode. Will they go into another brood cycle that could overcrowd the hive with young bees for the winter and possibly strain winter stores? 2/... I've noticed that the Varoa drop is starting to increase again and that there are still capped Drone brood in most of the hives. Will these abnormally warm temps create a mite "bloom" late in the season, after the Aug/Sept treatements? 3/... Should I have waited till the temperature actually dropped and rains set-in before wrapping the hive against the harsh realities of the winter rains and cold? 4/... Do bees consume more food when they are cold or warm over the winter period? Given these weather conditions, and the extremely active hive behaviour I am concerned that the colonies might be fooled into thinking that winter is much furhter away than it is... I'm sure that what I've written above is naive, however, any clarity or explanations about the concerns I have expressed above would be much appreciated. Cheers, Mark Walker Vancouver, Canada