Thanks to those who sent photos!
All the photos that I received were of only a few grams of hoar frost --
exhibiting not nearly enough water to have made substantial difference in
moisture dissipation from their hives.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but by my calcs, a colony burning through a
pound of honey a week should be producing ~300 grams of excess water per
week (counting water in the honey plus metabolic water from the sugars).

So if a top vent was indeed beneficial at removing a significant amount of
moisture per week, I'd expect to see a lot more condensed and frozen water
than just a little bit of hoar frost.

Has anyone seen, or taken a photo of, any SUBSTANTIAL amount of ice buildup
around a top vent?

Pete > I think this gives them an entrance close to where they are living,
allows them to come out if it's sunny, and possibly aids in air circulation.
This is also my impression so far (similar to that of Owen 1971).
I am open to any evidence that top ventilation actually removes a
substantial amount of moisture from a hive during winter, since it's been
reported more than once that top vents decrease the amount of mold growing
on the combs.  The lack of ice conflicts with that report (as has my
preliminary research).

I'm not trying to win any arguments, but just trying to figure this out!

Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
530 277 4450
ScientificBeekeeping.com

>

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