>jim fischer said:
>
>Doesn't the observation above imply that there was very limited
>ventilation for these buried hives?


The buried colonies come through the winter in good condition, so there
must be "enough" ventilation. Besides the air chamber around the hives,
there is often a "chimney" to the surface. Snow pack is not like being
under water. There is air under the snow.


>If such a small amount of heat
>(as is generated by bee respiration and radiated heat from the cluster)
>is able to melt snow away from the hive, this would seem to only
>be possible if there was little or no ventilation.


Well, obviously there is ventilation. While the amount of ventilation is
not known by me, there is surely enough to allow survival by the
colony...and have them come through the winter in good condition.


>I'd call the melted snow a "bad" sign,


Why?



>but here in Virginia, we have
>cold AND damp, unlike your drier cold snaps up there in the "People's
>Republic of Vermont.
>jim (Dr. Martin Luther King: "I have a dream..."
>               Dr. Howard Dean: "I have a SCREAM...")


Oh yeah, I forgot I was talking to "jim,"  who sounds like my dear wife
when she has to have the last word...and...

We do have Howard, and civil unions, and maple syrup and "woodchucks," but...
you in Virginia have..."John Mohammed, and Lee Boyd Malvoux."

I know where I would rather bee...
yours respectfully, and feeling like I have to defend myself and this
beautiful place I live...

Mike