> England and Ireland go up to latitude 55N which is further north than any
> part of the US except Alaska, but it does include the southern extremity 
> of
> Alaska. I have never heard of anybody winter wrapping bees over here and
> generally they overwinter successfully.

OK.  I am writing about North America, and not addressing Northern areas 
favoured by the Gulf Stream, although the GS moves not far from Maine, and 
local considerations may prevail there.  There are always exceptions.

> Of course you have a 'continental' rather than 'maritime' climate

An that is what I am writing about, although I am not certain about the 
coastal areas of Maine, and recommend getting local advice.  Our normally 
outspoken Maine beekeeper is, so far, silent.

> By wrapping you are preventing the heat from the sun helping them  expand
> their cluster and move around on sunny days (unless, of course your hives
> are in the shade).  Why not, experimentally, wrap alternate hives either
> fully, or partially, leaving the southern side (preferably painted a dark
> colour) exposed?

This is covered extensively in the archives as well as examples given on my 
website (somewhere).  Open front, with or without tarpaper, is one proven 
wrapping techniques, although not all that popular, and it has its 
advantages and disadvantages.  The warming can be an advantage or a 
disadvantage.

Black surfaces radiate as well as absorb and the switch from heat input to 
heat loss is instantaneous the moment the sun is hidden, potentially leaving 
bees stranded outside the cluster.  Whether this happens or not depends on 
the local ambient temps and how quickly it changes locally, the condition of 
the bees, the location of stores, etc.  It works for some very good 
beekeepers. In our district, though, temperatures have been known to range 
from minus forty to plus twenty Celsius and back in a period of several 
hours.

However this matter is a distraction from what I am discussing at this 
point, and hope this sidebar does not distract newbees from taking a 
conservative approach and doing whatever the successful locals do -- and 
wrapping wih close attention to local custom if indicated.

In this discussion, we are hopefully not experimenting.  We are attempting 
to give straightforward unambiguous advice that will get the hives through 
winter without loss and minimize distractions from that purpose. 

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L