Here's is the view of one entomologist...
Three days of -30 C temperatures across most of the province have partly answered the prayers of those trying to contain the pest that has munched its way through millions of trees and threatens to wipe out millions more across Canada.
"I think there's been enough cold to affect the population and keep it from growing," said Allan Carroll, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service and one of the country's top pine beetle experts. "I suspect there's going to be a fairly significant decline in the population. It's going to be noticeable."
The beetles, now hiding under the bark as larvae, develop a kind of antifreeze in their blood that lets them withstand the winter. It takes several days of -40 C weather to completely wipe them out.