Author	[Modern View]
Thesmoothedeere 01-25-2013 09:28:41 69.171.171.235 Report to Moderator	By John Roach, NBC News As the bitter cold in the northeastern United States keeps even hardy New Hampshire skiers off the slopes, there’s at least one potential upside to the cold snap: fewer mosquitoes come summer, according to an entomologist riding out the cold in upstate New York. "Most arthropods have the ability to super-cool themselves in order to survive extreme cold winters in the ranges they’ve become adapted to. However, if unusually cold temperatures strike, it could be below their threshold of tolerance," Cornell University's Laura Harrington explained via email to NBC News. And it is cold. Unusually so. New Hampshire’s Wildcat Mountain ski resort was closed Wednesday and Thursday, with the wind-chill factor reaching 48 degrees below zero Fahrenheit on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. Harrington said most insects produce "antifreeze proteins and other compounds to protect their cells from freezing and dying." If it gets too cold, though, this natural antifreeze could cease to function properly. "The concentration of the antifreeze proteins or the extent of the expression could be inadequate," she explained. "We have examples of moderate overwintering capacity that suggests that the evolved level of expression of these proteins is important." [Reply]   [No Email]
showcrop 01-26-2013 12:07:22 75.67.231.80 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Thesmoothedeere, 01-25-2013 09:28:41   I saw that about Wildcat and thought what a bunch of wusses. I think it was probably 1968 or 1969 that they invented wind chill. I was on a Ski Patrol in NH and they gave us little wind chill charts to pass out and we were supposed to keep telling people to be careful of wind chill. Freezing ears, nose, and cheeks was just a fact of life when I was growing up. Sun burn in the summer, frostbite in the winter. The skin always grew back. [Reply]  [No Email]
John Fulton 01-25-2013 11:45:40 67.142.174.23 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Thesmoothedeere, 01-25-2013 09:28:41   Ah..... tell folks in artic Alaska and Canada that colder temps will kill the buggs.... NOT! [Reply]  [No Email]
Jim/Pa 01-25-2013 11:38:50 96.235.237.70 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Thesmoothedeere, 01-25-2013 09:28:41   Hopefully,it kills the ticks this year. [Reply]  [No Email]
Trkr 01-25-2013 11:21:22 108.34.48.160 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Thesmoothedeere, 01-25-2013 09:28:41   Hope it kills off the stinkbugs! [Reply]  [No Email]
Russ from MN 01-25-2013 10:57:39 68.235.89.10 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Thesmoothedeere, 01-25-2013 09:28:41   My wife heard that -30F will kill the emerald ash borer, that would be a tree saver for N MN! [Reply]  [No Email]
rrlund 01-25-2013 10:33:02 207.241.137.116 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Thesmoothedeere, 01-25-2013 09:28:41   Well.....only trouble with that theory is,as long as they're out of the wind,they're OK unless the ambient temp falls below what will kill them. [Reply]  [No Email]
Adirondack case guy 01-25-2013 10:27:31 74.69.160.79 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Thesmoothedeere, 01-25-2013 09:28:41   They said last year with the milder than usual winter that we would have all kinds of bugs last year. It turned out just the opposit here locally. We started off with a heat wave in March. Lots of larva in smaller than usual ponds and streams. Then we got a prolonged spell of hard freezing, and drought conditions continued until mid July. Weather which killed the larva, bees, and fruit tree buds. causing major crop loss. At least the blackflies and mesquetos were not an issue last spring and summer. I am curious to see what spring brings this year. We had a mini spring this late fall. Wild berry bushes put out new leaves, tulips and daffodills sprouted and other small undergrowth budded. We will have to wait for the results. The receiding cold wave dropped temps as you mentioned, but the weatherman is predicting 40+ temps this comming week. WTH?? I just take each day as it comes at this point in my life. Mother Nature has the uncanny ability to take away and then replentish. However, she is getting older and I don't know if she can keep up with this new generation though. Loren, the Acg. [Reply]  [No Email]
Billy NY 01-25-2013 11:01:15 72.226.79.200 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Adirondack case guy, 01-25-2013 10:27:31   I have always liked the conditions we have now, barely any snow and a hard freeze, that usually seems to help with the mosquitoes and black flies, gnats and no see ums. Later part of '11 was thick with mosquitoes and I had them in my basement until December, can recall sitting by the stove and seeing a few here and there. They like the underside of manhole covers as I recall while working in manholes during the winter. Last spring, summer and fall, those smaller blackflies and such were brutal, they just don't give up, darned things will line up your leg while mowing and cooler, and bite, hate those darned things, maybe we will get a break from them, well at least the ground is froze and its good log towing conditions ! [Reply]  [No Email]
Adirondack case guy 01-25-2013 11:51:27 74.69.160.79 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Billy NY, 01-25-2013 11:01:15   Bill, I bet you didn't get the harder freezes in April, that we got here, how ever I know your orchards in the area were affected. I also had a problem with no see ums in my cellar the winter before. I figured they hatched out of the wood I store in my callar. They were attracted to my pellet stove when burning, and on contact, they were instant ashes. It astonished me each morning when I put more pellets in it, how many hundreds had committed haircairy each night. The stove doubbled as a bug zapper. LOL. Loren, the Acg. [Reply]  [No Email]
Billy NY 01-26-2013 06:15:50 72.226.79.200 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Adirondack case guy, 01-25-2013 11:51:27   We did, the apricot trees here bloomed in March, weeks early, usually mid April is normal, then the cold snap, literally no apples on the wild trees and I can usually fill the bucket on my tractor with them numerous times, old pasture field here is loaded with apple. The previous spring, which was an actual spring, both the apricot and the apple tree in my yard did not bloom until mid May, and both at the same time, harsh winter, lots of snow, and cooler temps in the spring, I've never seen them both bloom at the same time, took a photo or 2, now I wonder what we'll get this year LOL ! [Reply]  [No Email]
Thesmoothedeere 01-25-2013 10:57:19 69.171.171.235 Report to Moderator	Re: Fewer bugs ..maybe .. in reply to Adirondack case guy, 01-25-2013 10:27:31   Your last sentence their Loren , very wise words! Iv'e never seen weather like this. Ups downs you never know anymore . [Reply]  [No Email]