Intersting this should come up...
 
I maintain an observation hive in a north-facing greenhouse. It's an 8-frame unit, though the bees only use three of the frames. The temperatures in the greenhouse stay between 68 F and 80 F. My problem is trying to cool the hive enough. I run an AC unit and have slowly turned it down to about 60F, but I'm not sure it's working as the bees seem pretty active. My feeder is on the exit tube and the top feeders that came with the hive send a constant stream of syrup into the hive so I don't use them. This is the first winter we'll be trying to see the bees through, so I have no idea how to keep them from getting confused and trying to fly. 
 
How active are they at US Mid-Atlantic region winter temps? Are all the bees clustered together or can there be several clusters? Will hive "work" continue through the winter, with some bees leaving the clusters and cleaning around the empty parts of the frames? And is there a good reference book for maintaining observation hives?
 
Thanks for your help.
 
PS We are considering a redesign of our hive and are interested in placing a "standard" hive outside and running a camera and remote monitor to the hive. We are thinking of some sort of mini-lens that might be steerable. Has anyone on the list experimented with this sort of "high tech" observation hive?