Why are the bees out?

[inwood]

What on Earth is going on? I live in SE London, got dive bombed by a couple of huge bumble bees on nye in the garden, and now my potato plant is covered in them. Too early, surely?

It's been very mild and bumble bees do venture out on sunny days

Plus those ones are on a sweet box plant, which is in full flower just now. That's why having winter flowering plants is so good. They give bees something to bumble about on, when they wake up for a bit. Awww, bless!!!

It has been very mild. I have seen lots of blossom coming out around here, which wouldn't normally happen until around March.

We'll see a lot more of this as the climate continues to change.

The weather in the SE/London is very mild compared to even 30 years ago.

January/February used to be properly cold.

This would be more the weather you'd get around Easter time.

Has everyone forgotten 2018 so quickly ? End of Feb and early March were **ing arctic.

I'm in East Midlands, I've got primula flowering, summer bulbs shooting etc. Some other early risers are nowhere in site yet- crocus, snowdrops etc. Very odd.

And yes, I'm worried it will all get nipped by a late winter!

exactly @DGRossetti, in 2013 we had heavy snow at the end of March and intoApril, and in 2010 we had heavy snows in early spring!

I think the seasons are so messed up. Mild in January but no doubt it will be freezing in March, we’ll have a rainy June, a hot day in July (which everyone will moan its tooo hot) then a cold and damp August. Probably a random Indian summer in October...

Statistically it is more likely to snow at Easter than Christmas..

But that plant looks like Sarcococca or sweet box, it's supposed to be flowering now - it's not flowering out of time because of climate change!

I have two Lonicera purposa Winter Beauty in full flower in my garden, on milder days there are often bees bobbing around in it. As Eccocabby says, it's a good thing to have winter flowering shrubs planted, if only for the pollinators. But I'm pleased with my Honeysuckles as they start flowering in early December and go on until the end of March. That's a really long flowering season! The flowers don't look special but they smell lovely and I've planted both mine by the boundary wall, so passersby get the benefit of them too.