>This specific phenomenon is of great interest, and could perhaps be prevented by greater insulation. 

I use a thick layer of top insulation and have observed that winter clusters advance quickly to the cover and stay there all winter. The bulk of the cluster lives against the insulation and the remaining part is in the beeways directly below. I've seen this with all-size clusters. I run a screened shim placed upside down with the screen up, so I can lift the cover without the cluster attached - hard learned after dropping a thousand bees in the snow.  The bees seldom starve in this configuration and often come into spring with full frames of honey.

>  I also understand the tradeoff of too much insulation resulting in colonies
not benefitting from solar gain.

I still would like to see more data on the benefit of solar gain on survival.  I'm not sure, with the limited amount of winter daylight, that any solar gain, on the box exterior,  has a chance to benefit a cluster sandwiched in the middle of frames of thermally stable honey.  


Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT

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