We've been having pretty mild winters, which can promote survival, overwintering survival of hosts and of the vectors, which also will lead to new expansion.
In the last two fire seasons, other parts of the world dominated by boreal forest have also seen overwintering fires and Jandt says that may be where some of her research goes next.
The next year's queens are the ones that will overwinter and all of the current year bees, the workers and the queens and the drones, the males, will all die once the weather gets cold.