--- On Mon, 10/19/09, Donald Aitken <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I use 1" Styrofoam. On top there is 1" Styrofoam encased in 1/4" plywood to prevent damage by mice and a 3/8" rim with a 1/4" by 2" cut out for ventilation. This may be too much ventilation and I am going to try some with the top closed and an auger hole in the top brood chamber as described by Allen.
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Donald, when I lived in Indiana, just north of Indianapolis, I placed four blocks of wood between my inner covers and outer covers. Even with hives on the west side of a barn with no wind brakes and open fields to the west, I didn't have any winter kills (Granted this was running about six colonies of bees for three winters and was in the late 1970's). But my feeling is that you will have more trouble with moisture in the hive in the winter than you will with having excess air movement. This is my opinion however. Even though I am now way down south I still believe in plenty of hive ventilation.
Mike in LA (Lower Alabama)
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