Anchorage’s north latitude is a bit over 61 degrees. In December sunrise is
10:00 a.m. or a bit after, and sunset is about 3:45 p.m. providing around 5
½ sunlight. The winter sun does not rise in the east. Instead, it rises in
the south-southeast. It then travels a bit northerly in it’s arc where it
is still very, very  much in the southern part of the sky at high noon.
From there it moves more to the south again, setting in the south-
southwest.

Probably most of the radiant heat furnished to a hive would be toward noon
when the sun is shining only on the front of a south-facing hive. Depending
on location, trees and buildings often block even noon-day sun radiation
from reaching the hives’ face.

In winter here in the south-central region of Alaska our sky is largely
overcast. The insulating cloud layer sometimes helps to give us a bit
milder range of temperatures than other northern areas. On those days when
the sun is shining brightly, and  the sky has cleared losing it’s cloud
blanket, outside air temperatures frequently drop a great deal.  I doubt
the fall in outside air temperature would likely be compensated for by the
brief period that sunshine is striking the front of a beekeeper’s hive.

Regards,
Dick Allen

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