>Dave  can you expound on this?  I have been pondering it for a year or two,  but find little to no information on the methods.   I do see on Ebay you can buy hive heating pads cheap,  and a controller,  but  have not seen info on the best use of them?

I have been using a regular heat tape under my nucs for the last couple of years. I can buy a 100' tape pretty cheap at the hardware store. It starts heating around 40° F and shuts off at around 45°F, controller is built in. It certainly doesn't heat the hive but I believe it helps the clusters maintain heat in the very cold weather. I found improved survival with it. I don't wrap the nucs- most are wood, some are Betterbee nucs - but I do put a 2" styrofoam cap on the migratory covers. All nucs have a small 2" top entrance and, since heat rises, I think some warmth moves through the cluster from the tape. Last winter the nucs were covered in snow for about 6 weeks. I had 5% loss. Best winter yet for me.

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