> Not surprisingly, researchers in the performance of colonies in insulated hives with added top vents have been rewarded with poor or inconclusive results for their labours 

That is not my experience nor is that the experience of many hundreds keeping bees in the Canadian Provinces. One of my neighbors learned his techniques there. He keeps hives on pallets in groups of four. In the fall he wraps the entire foursome with bubble wrap and black plastic. He makes special effort to include an upper entrance. When the snow is deep the bottom entrance of hives placed near the ground, will be completely blocked. I think decades of experience trumps any research anyway.

PLB

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