">>Last winter I lost almost all of my hives by letting air flow through
the hives by leaving an opening at the top of the hives as some suggest
here on Bee-L. This winter I had no losses and the weather was similar to
the year before."

By no means do I want to be critical of this person's abilities, but this
statement reminds me of many 'methods' considered necessary to beekeeping.
All to often, a beekeeper has tried something, found it 'works', and then
proclaimed it as a tried and true method.  All too often part of the 'proof'
is that the beekeeper has used the method for 30 years and never had any
difficulty with (name your problem).

Aaron Morris has a whole list of such items, I think he calls them 'old
wives tales'.  I think many of these are things that make a beekeeper feel
good, and have nothing at all to do with good bee management.  Some of my
favorites are:

1.  A super full of straw on top of a inner cover to overwinter hives.
2.  Follower boards to improve ventilation
3.  Bottom supering (instead of top supering) to improve honey yields.
4.  Slatted Racks to improve ventilation.
5.  'Cedar' wood for additional rot resistance for beekeeping items.  (Most
old rot resistance beekeeping parts were made of cypress, which was called
'cedar' in the south.  Cypress is no longer available, and most wood sold as
'cedar' is really red cedar, which is no more rot resistant than fir or
hemlock.)

Enough...I can hear the teeth gnashing from here!

Yes, your hives lived through the winter without an upper entrance, and died
with an upper entrance.  But the 'cause and effect' implied is most
assuredly not there.  Something else changed...

A failure to provide an upper entrance for ventilation is a recipe for
disaster...sooner or later.  (There must be a reason why feral colonies
almost always have their brood nest and honey storage area BELOW the
entrance.)
6.

Lloyd
Lloyd Spear, Owner Ross Rounds, Inc.
Manufacturers of Ross Rounds Comb
Honey Equipment, Sundance Pollen Traps
and Custom Printer of Sundance Labels.

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