Tim Arheit <[log in to unmask]> wrote 
  Second, if your bees consume 60 pounds of honey over the winter, they will emit nearly 40 pounds of water (if my chemistry is correct), or about 4.7 gallons of water. 
   
  Regardless of the rest of the discussion, I don't think this is right. I recall reading in Winston's "Biology of the Honey Bee" that the bees fan the nectar until the water content is about 18 percent. In other words, less than one part in five. Of 60 pounds, then, less than 15 would be water. 
     ...just did a google on this. wikipedia article on honey says between 14 and 18 percent. so adjust water content of 60 lbs down accordingly, to maybe less than10 lbs. 
     Not saying this may not be a problem. We've certainly had some troubles because of it, here in the great lakes triangle of southern ontario. I'm going to look into the homosote board as a means of them getting some water when they need it. I've got a hive in my yard- that I maybe ventilated too much - with about a thousand dead bees outside it in a puddle of water. She's still alive, though.
  stephen
   

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