> The discussion of hive ventilation goes on and on and on...
The basic problem here is that ventilation is a local problem, both for bees and humans.
In the Mid-Atlantic states, the air is so humid at times that the beekeeper is forced to change not just socks, but shoes, as they both get soaked with sweat.
Clearly, top vents are a wonderful idea there.
Other places, not so much. I remember one frequent contributor who even had top vents on his wrapped pallets of 4 hives, and these bees were overwintering in an area about as hospitable to bees as the far side of the moon.
I keep hives in places with very different weather - Manhattan overlooking Central Park, 22 yards from the beach in Jamacia, and 16 yards from the beach in the Canary Islands (lucky for me, not the island with the Volcano currently erupting). I've also keep bees at elevations ranging from 800 ft to 3500 feet in the Blue Ridge Mountains of VA. While the need for ventilation exists at all of these sites, the overwintering strategy from one is of little or no value in another site.
If I could summarize the comparison, it would be that all my hives need top vents year-round, but the Jamaican hives need it the most, as one can easily go through 3 shirts in a day there even when doing little or nothing.
In my view, any hive south of the Mass Pike (I-90) in Massachusetts likely needs a winter top vent. Get North of Boston, and one starts to get into areas where bitter cold and dry air masses might counsel the German approach of a hive-top plastic sheet that seals the entire top, which is said to enable "Nestduftwarmebindung", my favorite beekeeping term ever.
But this is a regional issue, perhaps more closely linked to one's "USDA Growing Zone" than anything else, as climate matters.
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