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Thanks Stan  for your thoughtful consolidation and cross referencing of this
thread.  You wrote:
 
>... I think it probable that bees over-wintered here in cellars in the past
would have
>started brood rearing in the dark.  If not I would not think they would be
>much good here where spring arrives so suddenly.
 
I know a number of beekeepers do over-winter inside and hope they comment on
the onset of their brood rearing and environmental factors that might be
involved.
 
I generally don't over-winter inside but did take one hive into the basement
in order to provide bees continually for Bee Venom Therapy.  By November,
when I took it inside it was very cold that year and we already had a good
layer of snow that lasted all winter so brood rearing should have stopped
Although I did not verify this (more's the pity).  I kept it in complete
darkness around 5 degrees C (40 F) with NO OUTSIDE ACCESS.
 
As expected here, lots of bees died throughout the winter and the population
dwindled to the point that I wondered if I would loose the hive if I kept on
vacuuming bees out for the BVT.  But they DID start brood laying in the dark
for by early April when I took it outside to pollinate my fruit trees, the
hive was overflowing.  I expect it was because the warmer basement allowed
them to warm the brood nest earlier than the usual start (I read taking
place in March although I have never had the heart to verify) and I had kept
a feeder on all the time.
 
FWIW they swarmed in May (a month early) and took up residence in a pile of
empty, triple nuc boxes less than 100 feet from their hive.  I find this
interesting in light of the recent thread of minimum distance. I verified it
WAS their swarm because I identified their marked queen - a two year old
descendant from Buckfast (HTM resistant) stock.
 
george
Toronto area Canada.