> thay we do not take extraordinary efforts to prevent our bee colonies from clustering is a serious accusation.

An alternative point of view:

> Insulation can cause considerable distress to a colony. On a cold sunny day the temperature in an insulated hive covered with black paper may be raised sufficiently for a large colony in it to produce enough heat (by consuming honey) to raise the temperature sufficiently to make some bees leave the hive; they may then become chilled, be unable to return, and so perish. 

> We must be prepared to view the incidence of winter losses as having at least some element of chance. Every northern beekeeper has found dead colonies in spring with heavy stores and a cluster of dead bees on empty combs far from the honey.

WINTERING by T. S. K. and M.P. JOHANSSON

The authors of this article have kept bees since 1951 near Albany in New York State, at an altitude of 1500 feet [450 m], where winter conditions would be considered severe. "Bees do not freeze to death in winter-they starve." — Herman Rauchfuss, Sr.

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