Well, its not as cold, nor do we get the kind of snowfalls from just a decade ago.
That said; We're supposed to get down to 20 below zero (F) tonight, but we used to have 20-30 below zero during the day (30-40 below @ night), sometimes lasting for 2-3 weeks or more, along w/ mountains of snow.
Now we've learned (the hard way) to regularly cover our septic tank with hay/straw because we can no longer count on the protection once offered by ample amounts of snow before the BIG FREEZE. The last time we had an extended cold snap in Northern Wisconsin was in the late 90's. Since then our winters have become increasingly more mild, and our SPRINGS have become more unpredictable. Life (including bees) suffers from these extremes no doubt about it.
Our Spring typically begins (dandelions start blooming) in early April here, but we can get a 'killing' frost well into JUNE.