All this talk about top insulation and pillows reminds me of the old hog house on my grandfather's farm in Minnesota.  I converted it to raise sheep after I graduated from college.  
 
It was a single-story, hip-roofed "barn" with no insulation in the walls (simply two-by-four studded walls with wood siding on both inside and outside).  The attic portion of the hip roof was filled with loose straw, probably 12" at least.  The barn had no ceiling, but rather woven wire fencing stapled to the ceiling stringers that ran across the barn to keep the straw from falling into the barn.  Sparrows and rats loved it.
 
The ends of the hip roof had vented/slatted windows (no glass).  On those crystal cold nights when the temps dropped below zero, the barn was very comfortable and the respiration "steam" would move up through the straw and pour out of those windows without any forced ventilation.
 
The irony was we sheared our ewes during this coldest time so they would give off more heat and the barn would remain less humid.  The barn was still warm and nothing condensed on the walls.
 
I've often wondered how it would work to top my bee hive with a 16" by 20" sheet of 8-mesh wire, set a shallow super on the wire mesh, then fill that void with loose cedar shavings (animal bedding from the local farm supply store)?
 
Then come spring all I'd have to do is scrape the shavings off into the grass, store the screen and fill the supers with frames.
 
I'm sure someone has tried this.
 
Grant
Jackson, MO


      

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