Based on twelve years of growing teas in East Tennessee (6b), I can report that this is the meanest cold in those years. We had three periods of four or more days when highs were 20F or less. I had visions of ice crystals destroying rose vascular systems. So far, that hasn't happened. What to look for. Don't look down near the base first. Look out on stems. The new buds are just today beginning to swell. By Thursday or Friday (in these parts) the swelling will be more pronounced. We won't keep all our stems, but we will keep some. Look at the roses from the north side as well as the south. South sides are already showing sunburn and many aren't green, even though their north sides are. By Friday (we expect temps around 60F as highs for the rest of this week) we may see more winter damage, not as dead but as canker growing. Today, on a classic poly, I saw the tell tale signs of active canker...not in the canker themselves but in the magenta purple discoloration that the canes take on when the canker is producing polyethylene gasses. On small stems, that has to be cut off. On tea roses, on mature two to four year old canes, the cane can survive (unlike wimpy HTs that allow the canker to gird them by midsummer). Right now I can report that four nights with temps out in the garden that went down to below 5F, some stems survived on both teas and chinas. That makes me very happy.

Daisey, thinking that you are about the same as a US Z8, if they were in the ground without protection over winter they are most likely dead. Sometime in the next 4-5 weeks, if alive, they would begin to show little bits of green at the old leaf axils - new growth beginning. Mine in my similar climate will usually endure about 5 years average on my semi protected (partly glassed) porch before the temperature drops just low enough to wipe them out, even though I cover them with old tablecloths in the worst weather....I would surely lose them to a few nights below 28F (-2.2C?) in the ground. We had a rough winter, my own in 24" pots, semi protected, are showing no signs of life here either, I'm almost certain I've lost them this year. Giving the stems a pinch between fingers reveals firm tissue closer to the soil line (soft further up) but I'm not holding out much hope and expect to be shopping for replacements.

"I'm from the philippines and i have also observed dead bees in my two hives. I see them scattered on the ground below the hive opening. What could be the cause of this?" One would need much more information to determine the reason. Is there a mite or nosema problem? Robbing, pesticides,starvation,etc, etc? We could make all kinds of random guesses, but it would be best if you did some research, and a thorough inspection of your hives. Are there other local beekeepers more farmiliar with your situation that might be able to help you out?

Sounds like a textbook case of damping off. What arrangements have you made for ventilation? Do you keep the glass on after the seeds have germinated? You do need ventilation and you should remove the glass after a good number - not necessarilly all - of the seeds have germinated, long, long before they get to be 3" tall. The humidity should not be too high and you should not keep the soil or seedlings too warm - both will encourage growth of the fungus responsible for "damping off disease." The spores are pretty much ubiquitous so don't bother thinking about killing them all off, you just want to discourage too active growth of them. So... get rid of the potting soil you've been using so far. Clean out the containers with bleach solution (they do have drainage holes, BTW, right?) and start again, with a fan not too far off but not blowing right on the seedlings, remove the glass shortly after they start to germinate, don't keep the soil any warmer than about 70F unless you're starting tropical seedlings and back it off a bit even from that once they've germinated and you'll probably find you get dramatically better results.