>Do you have a top entrance for ventilation?  This amount of water would seem to indicate not. 

As I described in detail, we use auger holes.  At one time, we used hard covers and a slit, but have moved away from that.

> I used to get a lot of water (although not as much as you) on the outer frames, too.  Used to result in mold growth on the outer combs.  Especially in the pollen combs.  The bees would then have to cut out entire comb sections to remove the spoiled pollen in the spring.  Such a waste.  Has not been the same since I started using top entrances.

We don't get spoilage like that.  

I wonder what the Northern Europeans can report, since many of them use no top entrance at all?

You are, as I recall in a damp maritime climate around 42 degrees, quite a bit south of us .  We are in a dry continental climate up here at 51-1/2.  Actually, even after a month in the deep freeze, that is not nearly as much water as one might think.  It is a thin glaze -- an ounce or two at the very most.

>I prefer hives on the drier side.  I supply water in the hives in the 2nd half of the winter only to reduce the need for water flights in borderline weather.

My bees don't have far to go, and the humidity seems to be a good thing.

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