How cold does it need to get to kill pine beetles over the winter?
Beetles produce an anti-freeze that helps them to survive the winter. Mountain pine beetle mortality requires temperatures of minus 40 for several days. However, an unexpected cold snap in October/November or in March/April may kill beetles even if temperatures are not as extreme. Unfortunately, provincial experts feel that the beetle population is now so high that we will continue to experience outbreak conditions, even if we do experience a significant cold snap (which is unlikely).
