Hi Mike:
 You mentioned wrapping and cleansing flights. It seems there may be two sides to the story; I’ve
heard both of them from the university bee folks.  One side says bees will consume more stores if
they are unwrapped because they need to generate heat for warmth. Marion Ellis wrote that in his
‘Bee Tidings’ newsletter. “Winter wraps pay for themselves every year in reduced honey
consumption.”

http://entomology.unl.edu/beekpg/tidings/btid2001/btdapr01.htm#Article3

Interestingly, it comes from the April 2001 issue. Isn’t April a little late to be concerned about
wrapping hives? <g>

Both Mark Winston and Dewey Caron, though, told me awhile back that since bees are more active
when wrapped, wrapped hives will consume more stores. So, who’s right?  Maybe they don’t fly
when unwrapped because they don’t have a need to and maybe they are flying when wrapped
because they need to. Or then again, maybe not.....

Regards,
Dick Allen

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