> 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.
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