- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
California's honey bees await the famous sunshine
California's very wet winter gifted the state a spectacular superbloom -- an explosion of flowers that delighted hikers and should have been great news for bees.
But beekeepers say lingering low temperatures and gray skies in the Golden State are keeping the insects indoors -- and if it doesn't get sunny soon, the bumper honey harvest they were hoping for might not materialize.
"The bees don't like to fly when it's cold and damp," explains Jay Weiss, a backyard beekeeper in Pasadena, as he lifts the lid off a hive to reveal thousands of insects.
Of course, "cold and damp" is relative.
But with temperatures in the Los Angeles area topping out around 20 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) most days right now, and the area's famously blue skies hidden by a blanket of cloud, it all adds to the impression that the weather is just not being very Californian this year.
While a few overcast weeks in May and June are not unusual, the weather has never really cheered up from the deluge that walloped the state over the winter.
A series of atmospheric rivers -- high altitude ribbons of moisture -- chugged into the western United States, dropping trillions of gallons of water on a landscape that had been baked dry by years of punishing drought.
Reservoirs that had been perilously low drank their fill, and rivers burst their banks.
The downpour was great news for water managers and for homeowners fed up with brown lawns and hosepipe restrictions.
But honeybees really struggled, unable to take wing in all that rain.
"I had healthy strong hives, but next thing you know two months later, the bees starved to death inside the hive," said Weiss.
"I lost five hives over the winter.
"Beekeepers in Southern California are not used to really bad weather," he told AFP.
- May gray, June gloom -
When the rain stopped in April, hillsides exploded into a riot of oranges, yellows, purples and whites; a carpet of color that could be seen from space.
The abundance should have been manna from heaven for the bees -- a vast superstore of nectar and pollen that would fatten hives and give honeymakers their sweet reward.
But May was gray and June has begun with gloom.
National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sirard says an exceptionally wet winter with rain that lasted longer than usual gave way to the cloudy skies that are common at this time of year, without the burst of sunshine seen in previous years to separate them.
"We're in the climatologically cloudiest two months in Southern California, which keeps temperatures on the cool side," he told AFP.
The phenomenon is caused by cool ocean water that keeps air temperatures low around the coast -- the so-called marine layer.
"Typically, the marine layer clouds will come in at night, and usually scatter out in the morning, into the afternoon," though they can stay all day.
The next week or so looks set for more of the same, but July and August -- the bulk of the meteorological summer -- can be expected to be sunny, he said.
That'll be good news for the bees, who will finally be able to get out and about amongst all those flowers.
If the sun does come through, Weiss, a former professional magician who drifted into beekeeping 20 years ago, will be hoping to harvest as much as 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of honey from each of his hives.
He'll also make soaps, lip balms and various ointments from the wax, all smelling deliciously of the bees' sweet confection.
"The super bloom can double our production of honey this year," said Weiss.
That's as long as the insects are given their Goldilocks moment -- not too hot and not too cold.
"Once we're into July, the temperatures could get really hot and so they're not going to be producing honey anymore," said Weiss.
"So I would say we got about six weeks for this to happen.
"But when they start making honey, it's unbelievable how fast things happen."
E.Raimundo--PC