Jim asked about bees becoming too cold as a result of a draft between the
screened bottom and the "open" upper entrance.

While it is largely a quibble, the 1" dimension refers to the width of the
strip nailed to the inner cover.  The height (depth) of this about 1/2" at
its widest and nothing at its most narrow...just like a shingle.  The 1/2"
measurement is the maximum upper entrance and this gradually diminishes to
nothing further back on the inner cover.

It was formerly felt that bees needed to keep warm to live through the
winter.  The theory was that bees on the outside of the cluster gradually
moved inside, and those inside moved out, so all the bees kept warm.  Not
true...bees that start the cluster on the outside largely stay on the
outside all winter!  They truly become so cold they cannot move, yet when it
warms up they fully recover!  Those who sting themselves with bees know this
well, as they put the bees into the refrigerator until they are thoroughly
chilled, take out a bee, put it on their skin, and when it warms up it
stings!  I just heard a photographer tell how he captures bees and wasps and
chills them in the refrigerator.  When chilled, he manipulates them into the
poses he wants and takes the photo.  He said he has "about an hour".
Eventually the wasp or bee flies away, apparently unharmed.

Jim also mentioned bees "moving stores around".  They don't do this in
winter.  Instead, they move the cluster.  To do this they need some amount
of warmth.  I don't know as anyone has reported on how warm it needs to be
for the bees to move, but I have seen them move at am ambient temperature of
about 50 degrees.  My understanding is that they will die if they exhaust
the food where the cluster is and can't move because it is too cold.
Perhaps in the process of moving, the bees on the outside get to move to a
warmer layer...(I don't know).

Regardless, the wood of the beehive (or, any wood) has an R factor of 1 for
every inch of wood.  That is virtually no R factor.  The honey and wax
provide some more insulation, but not much.  Researchers have found that the
temperature on the outside of the cluster is very close to the temperature
outside the hive.  Yet, the bees survive.  Cold, at least for some extended
period of time (weeks?), does not hurt bees.


Lloyd
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Lloyd Spear Owner, Ross Rounds, Inc.  The finest in comb honey production.
Visit our web site at http://www.rossrounds.com.