The recent extreme cold snap likely did nothing to diminish Alberta’s destructive mountain pine beetle populations, experts say. …Extended periods of temperatures like these can kill mountain pine beetles, if it happens at the right time. But at this point in the winter, it won’t do much. The beetles are just larvae and they’re perfectly prepared to ride out wicked weather. “At the moment, the mountain pine beetle is mostly going to be at its most tolerant stage in terms of cold. This is because as the winter begins, as it progresses, the beetles gradually produce antifreeze in their blood,” said Allan Carroll, a forestry professor at the University of British Columbia who studies Alberta’s management of mountain pine beetles.