>While I agree with much of what you are saying here, I believe that
>there is more to most of it than meets the eye, and which merits
>discussion....>
 
Thanks, Allen -- I figured you'd qualify with some comments from your
wealth of experience!  I'm sure we have it easy compared to conditions up
your way.
 
The Farrar "stunt" (agreed, it was a stunt) was accomplished with a
double-deep Langstroth.  Not Farrar 12-frame equipment, and I don't recall
that it was a previously 2-queen colony. It was a poignant "jab" to the
proponents of heavy packing back in those days.
 
We certainly don't have the winters here in NY that you do up north.  What
I have described is what has proved feasible at our latitude here in
central NY and New England. A consistent problem I have seen over the years
is lack of ventilation, and the bees can suffer because of it.
 
BEES are the best insulation, after all, or apparently so.  A strong colony
going into winter covers more comb area, and so can maintain contact with
food stores and maintain tempertures more easily.
 
About the rims -- oh yes, sometimes I have seen practically the whole
cluster just hanging in that 2" space, over the tops of the frames.  They
do survive that way, however, and can reach honey contained in the tops of
the combs below. (Or they can keep alive on dry sugar provided within the
rim-space.)  I am mainly talking about ensuring survival here, not a
developing brood nest.
 
According to Morse, November is the lowest point on the brood rearing cycle
here, with virtually no brood.  Drafty hives once brood is present again
can cause undue stress, for sure.  If the cluster is large, the effects
won't be so pronounced.
 
Note that I do not provide auger holes, as was once customary, and the
sugar-rims with front vent holes provide a good upper entrance.  (I don't
go around taping every crack and knothole closed.) It would be a mess if
the rims  were left on too long in spring, as the bees would fill that
space up with crazy comb in a hurry.  But I think there is some advantage
to giving the bees a good amount of space above the top frames (such as
from an inverted inner-cover, or a rim) so the cluster can migrate en masse
across them, to remain in contact with honey.  The top bee space alone
doesn't provide much room for this.  It is always disheartening to find a
cluster starved out, only a couple inches from a comb of honey.
 
The dry sugar has proved effective for keeping otherwise doomed colonies
alive.  The queen will get her brood nest going in the combs of the topmost
brood chamber, below where the sugar is.  The brood nest development may be
retarded by the space and ventilation, but having the colony alive is worth
it, and such stocks have gone on to produce fine crops here.  (We are
fortunate to have a long drawn out series of summer nectar sources, so even
slow colonies can produce if they have time to get going.)
 
Top insulation appears to have merit, especially when you can see that snow
directly above a cluster will sometimes melt from off the lid. I have
therefore used styrofoam between inner an outer covers of nucs and some
small colonies. An upper entrance (1" x 3/8") was still provided to allow
stale air to escape, and for cleansing flights.  Moisture buildup was not a
problem from such small colonies.  This year I added the few questionable
colonies together, to make strong units for winter, to help reduce the
mollycoddling they might otherwise require. I would be interested in
wintering practices used by any of you beekeepers in the Great White North.
Allen, do you still use the 4-packs?  Double or triple-deeps?  Thanks
muchly, and Merry Xmas, etc.                  Joel