Seems that after the rant, no one has much to say.  here is a conversation 
opener:
---
Wouldn't you know it?  I supered the hives right before a cool, rainy spell. 
That is not ideal, since supering adds additional, unfamiliar space for the 
bees to warm and they will likely prefer to contract down to the brood 
chamber.

Heat in the supers is important in our country.  Lots of folks, mostly 
hobbyists and southerners, recommend top ventilation during summer.  I 
don't.  I recommend that all hive entrances be in the brood chambers or 
below.  (We have a 1" auger hole in each brood box, and a full open bottom 
entrance).

Heat rises, and we need to conserve heat in our supers to keep the bees up 
and storing there.  Bees naturally remove honey from any areas that cool and 
pack it into the warmest area -- the brood chamber -- and we do not want 
that happening this early.  In fall, packing the brood area can be a good 
thing, but right now, we want the honey up top and the brood comb open for 
pollen and egg laying.

The literature indicates that the bees do not heat the hive and heat only 
the cluster.  This confuses many people.  The statement is true in winter, 
while bees are clustered most or all the time, but not in  summer -- at 
least as long as the cluster is normally broken and the bees occupy the 
entire hive.  When the bees are not clustered, they generate heat throughout 
the hive by their activity.  Naturally, they prefer to work and rest where 
the temperatures are most comfortable for them and that is around 90 degrees 
F.

There is a toggle point -- about 57 degrees F -- at which the ambient 
temperature drops sufficiently that the bees are forced to abandon the 
further regions of the hive and cluster to conserve heat.  Clustering 
happens sooner with small populations, in larger hives, and in cool drafty 
hives.

When the bees cluster, they cease most work outside that small sphere, and 
go into a conservation mode, so we want them to be able to maintain hive 
warmth and stay spread out through the hive as long as possible on cool days 
and nights during the honey producing months.

Thus, in summer, and particularly with small populations, we want to 
maintain the minimum hive volume that will not crowd them, and to provide 
entrances only where the bees can control the flow of air easily without 
being chilled, and where their heat is not lost to uncontrolled natural 
convection when they must retreat closer to the others for warmth.

In contrast, during spring, , before the flow, and before swarming, and 
while the brood area is expanding it is wise to err on the side of larger 
volumes, to prevent swarming and to allow space for expansion in advance of 
need.  During that build-up period, it seems that honey bees gauge the 
adequacy of their space by how crowded they are on the hottest day.

Nonetheless, bees do best when they are on the verge of being crowded and 
many good beekeepers who know their bees and area and who are often in their 
yards are able to crowd them a bit even in spring.  I never was, though, and 
always stacked on lots of boxes as soon as the weather settled and the hives 
were big enough to cover their brood easily, and not to be stressed.

The problem is that a colony which appears very comfortable in a hive can 
suddenly become crowded and swarm shortly after a large area of brood 
hatches.  Thus, in spring, it is important to be aware of warm spells that 
allow for sudden brood expansion and expect to have to super two to three 
weeks after, since the brood will hatch three weeks after the hot spell.

After swarming season is over, the hive volume can be reduced a bit, and 
even crowded without triggering swarming.  This depends on region, though, 
since some areas have a second swarming season.

The rain is welcome, and the reduced bee flight in the last two days is 
probably a good thing after I rearranged the yard.

Bees memory of their home location fades over three days of confinement and 
after three days, they don't drift much, since they reorient before flying. 
During a flow though, they fly straight out and will  be confused on 
returning if the yard has changed much and the hives have been moved.

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