> Without the upper draft, my bees will fly at lower ambient temperatures
> and take more frequent, shorter duration cleansing flights. With the upper
> draft, the flights were less frequent and much more intense. At the first
> good day there would be massive bee flight, lots of dead bees in the snow,
> and yellow bee manure on everything including the beekeeper if he's in the
> yard. :>) I haven't seen that with the upper entrances closed.

> The bees are much less stessed.

I don't see how the conclusion drawn in the last line is derived from the
statements made in the paragraph above it.

Top entrance or not, the temperature in the hive beyond the extent of the
cluster is going to be about the same as the ambient temperature outside
the hive.  Even hives with "reduced" single entrances have enough air
circulation to make this a true statement (insert here the usual Bee-L
disclaimer about the unique case of wrapped and/or insulated hives, which
I like to call "The Alberta Exception").

Therefore, the bees are going to decide that it is "OK to fly" using
the same clues either way - the temperature INSIDE the hive, and the
temperature near the entrance.

Could it be that what was observed here was nothing but a function
of specific winters with longer periods at lower temperatures, rather
than the different entrance configurations?

                jim

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::