At risk of sounding like a stuck record (remember those), this topic has been well discussed in the archives and many of us who are intimately familiar with both are reluctant to go over it all again.

In short, neither indoor or outdoor has an obvious advantage generally, but may in specific cases, and the decision depends on the management style and the operation.

Many beekeepers do both.  Some beekeepers are better equipped for one or the other, and yard locations, equipment, capital, manpower,. and distances may figure into this as well -- far more than any theoretical advantages.

Indoors allows for a controlled environment, but requires trucking, causes wear and tear and entails additional costs and risks, like losing prime locations. There is the risk of failure of the building environmental control systems smothering the entire contents, or fire.  Whereas outdoors, each yard is isolated to some extent for disease and pest control, moving indoors tends to shuffle the hives.

Moreover in spring the weather may warm necessitating removing the bees from the buildings pronto, but late snow and mud may make access to locations and even wintering buildings difficult or impossible.   Meantime outdoor wintered hives are protected by that same snow.

Depending on the equipment, the controlled indoors environment tends to be superior for smaller colonies.  Outdoor conditions are unpredictable.  Some winters may be mild, others severe.  Some winters may provide snow cover for insulation, others may be windy and open.  Large, healthy colonies are less affected.

As for feed consumption, that is more predictable indoors, but accurate calculations of relative cost are impossible.

In short, the comparison is dependent on the individual operation and generalities, as always are fun, and debating the mechanics, but the truth lies in actual experience.

In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

Beekeeping forums and literature are full of speculation based on extrapolation and reasoning from a few supposed or observed facts.  While these exercises are entertaining, and profitable for some especially adept writers and video promoters, smart beekeepers rely may watch and listen, on what they can personally see and prove in their yards.

Apologies for such a brief and necessarily incomplete summary, but if you are truly interested in the topic, please spend a few hours in the archives, conveniently and easily accessible from https://www.bee-l.org.

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