The bees are probably: finished with the blue lilacs, up early to get them; over where there’s more food (honey bees send scouts out, who report back to the hive and do a dance to show direction of the good food).
I suggest to Elizah Rosewylder that conditions vary each spring, with more or less of various sources of nectar each year. The critters who are skilled at finding the best food in quality and volume will reproduce more.
Perhaps your paper could check in with the beekeepers you featured for their development of a cleaner hive to reduce stress in winter.
Keith Sketchley
Saanich