On Mon, 23 Dec 1996, Mark D. Egloff wrote:
 
>      Gentlepeople:
>   >      As I was looking at all the miscellaneous holes and other areas
>      which provide both emergency exits and ventilation, I
>      remembered reading, I believe in one of Brother Adams books, an
>      admonition about having "draughts".  I began to wonder if there
>      was any real data regarding the size and quantity of air that
>      the bees move through the hive during the winter.
>
>      Have there been any studies published regarding how much
>      "ventilation" should one try use without causing the hive to
>      become drafty?  (Do the Bees really care?  Or Does it really
>      matter?)  I know that there is a whole body of literature
>      regarding ventilation of indoor wintering quarters, but that is
>      not what I am interested in.
>
>      In several of my hives I have modified the innercovers to allow
>      more ventilation which seems to help keep them dry, but when is
>      "to much of a good thing"?
>
      Hi David, I'm glad your back. Don't worry about the sharks, they
have no teeth.They wont be doing the judging anyway.
       This year I'm trying some new intercovers with isulation (r 5) over
them,with a miratory top. I'm in the R & D phase. They do get the moisture
out with a 1 1/2 inch slot at the front and back of the intercover. I put
baffles in the intercover to slow down the air flow. The intercover has
two 3 inch holes in the middle or the cover to let the heat and moisture a
place to go.The trick is keeping in some of the heat. I have read many
times, the bees do NOT try to keep the inside of the hive warm. I will go
with that, but we need to make it easy for them to move around in the hive
to get to the honey.
  I have another model with a condensing chamber , that will run the water
out and keep the heat in. Remmember that the water will condense in the
coolest part of the cover. The mfr. of this unit is not easy enough so
far.
 We have new snow on the ground this morning and about 30 F.We may get a
little winter after all. I do think that it is about our turn for a
winter.Here in Washington State ( western part ) we do not get extreemly
cold. We do get wet. So moisture is our real problem.
 
 Have a Happy New Year
 Roy