Richard - Thank you for the response (appreciated!!)

Bill -

The formula I listed is actually a field in my pivot table using Ti Lowest instead of Ta as there is a huge difference. I wanted to verify my logic first before I posted those results.
So far:
There seems to be 4 or 5 thermal phases to wintering bees, (Charts of Meta based on hourly numbers have 3 distinct trends)
0) end of broodrearing - daily ambient temp still above 0C
1) pre winter (prior to any prep - humidity spikes when adding syrup, reconfiguration of honey frames, consolidating smaller hives to smaller setups) 
2) consolidation to hive adjustments (reconfig, adding insulation/wrap, etc...) 
3) Slow thermal release of stored energy from hive frames (honey) exposed to cold side (R Value dependent & Size of Wintering cluster) - Longer the better but eventually this energy is exhausted 
4) Deep Cold Clustering 
5) Spring Brood Initiation Challenge (Not there yet). 

(Number 4 has the highest R2=0.98 (Trend-line fit to data)

I re-read a couple of D Mitchell's papers last night and will compare my results to his results.

I also have a medium super with 7 heavy honey frames warming up in my house... I am setting up a couple of trials.
1) Empty poly hive with honey super I will have 4 T sensors setup evenly across top of frames and one on the bottom board (3-4 days) until Ti ~Ta
2) Same setup now I will place the sensors mid way down frames 2-3,3-4,4-5,6-7 for 3-4 days until Ti-Ta
3) Same as above but now I will install a 15W artificial cluster and repeat... (Idea taken from (1- reference below)

I also have a wood hive setup that I will run one or two of the above on. All my frames will get numbered and weighed.

Goal: Understand heat release/recharge of honey frames, Insulating properties, etc...

Just uploaded one of my spreadsheets (source of jpg from yesterday's post) (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1REZiCKBZTsHKQpSOfvnHConPYDRLDgTA)

(1) - Advantages and Disadvantages of Top Entrances When Overwintering Colonies of Honey Bees in Cold Climates, Robert N Hughes

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