<<This has been shown to be the case with swarms in warm conditions, but for
winter clusters, Omholt is suggesting exactly the opposite. Think of this,
once the cluster reaches the lid, there can be no top convective
ventilation.>>
On the Omholt theory. It makes sense. I would go a step further and say the bees can adjust the tightness/looseness of their mantle as required to create the effects they want at any location on the surface of the cluster "sphere". The hive mind is incredible (how they decide their actions) and the sensory capability of 1000s of small input/output feedback loops based on each bee's individual highly sensitive sensory (milsecond) array is mind boggling.
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