Rereading Randys writing from last year on this topic at lunch,  and pondering for the last week,  I think I have a theory.

As we as humans go into winter,  the first few blast are nightmareish.  No matter where you're from  it’s a matter of scale.  In Phoenix a frost is call for winter coats.
So as the first blast hit,  stopping brood and clustering and figuring out how the heck to survive.  After all its new to almost every been in the box.  It has to be a shock to the system.

But as winter wears on,  they reach a balance.  Then get to a point where winter nights are the new normal,  and now those hives with adequate stores are plenty warm in the middle,  and surplus pollen,  so brood rearing can start.  Amount and size of that start being solely dependent on cluster size and food available. 
 
Completely external to location or daylight or outside temps. Solely based on the food supplies right at hand and available for consumption.  Of course then biger boxes would start quicker which coincides with what we see.  When natural pollen comes in,  then quite obviously they  take off.

So  maybe the stimulus is not actually days or temp,  but simple acclimation to the current outside conditions and availability of food of the right type  maybe its not as complex as we think?


Charles

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