Recently on May 11, item 035420, Jerry B. Bromenshenk wrote:

> Fact: Some of us never use them, except maybe as an upper entrance in
winter...
> If anyone can point to hard studies on the effects of inner covers on
hive humidity or temperature, please provide the citation(s)....
> Hobbiests often buy and use telescoping covers and cover these with metal
flashing. Now, in this case, you NEED an inner cover. Trying to pry off a
telescoping cover that has been glued down by the bees or bridged with bar
comb is no fun.
> Commercial operations use.....but, never telescoping - at least, I've not
seen any in MT, WA, ID, TX, NM. Why - mainly cost.

I would like to provide these "hard" facts:

During summer 1999, a beekeeper in my area decided to make nucs on top of
some existing hives just by leaving the inner cover and adding a reg. size
super filled with 2-3 brood frames with adhering bees + food frames,
etc...on top.
He left at the bottom of the i.c. a small entry for the bees to escape and
because it was a temporary set-up, he simply put the telescopic cover
(covered with metal) on top.
Then, we've got 3 consecutive days of hot weather reaching 90-95 degrees.
Yes, you've guessed what happened...the bees in the nuc dyed by suffocation.
The temperature inside the nuc must have got so high that it was impossible
for the small amount of bees to cool off the hive...
I wonder now if these nucs would had been supplied with an inner cover
under the metal cover..., my guess is that the temperature would not have
got so high....and the bees would have survived...please comment...I have
no other facts....
I know that the so called "commercial" beekeepers would not do such a
thing ...(wrrrhm...), I also know that it was not the right thing to
do ....but it happened. What I simply want to do is to warn/prevent in
advance the "not so knowledgeable" hobbist that listening to only one part
of the story may lead to misinterpretation and also can/could lead to
disaster as well...I mean that proper ventilation of the hive should be
mentionned in such a situation....AFAIK...
Don't you think so?

Vital Gaudreau
Sainte-Therese, Quebec