Hi all
I have long felt that the reason that the issue of packing, insulation and ventilation has never been satisfactorily resolved is because some winters it would be better to be insulated and some winters not. So sometimes insulated colonies fare better and sometimes unpacked ones do better. This snippet, apropos:

> A nest cavity with walls of low thermal permeability and restricted ventilation may give a colony useful protection at very low winter temperatures, but this thermal protection also has disadvantages. In mild winters, poor ventilation can be dangerous.

Simpson, James. “Nest Climate Regulation in Honey Bee Colonies.” Science, vol. 133, no. 3461, 1961, pp. 1327–1333.

¶

> Richard Taylor used to brag about his beat up old boxes with cracks and holes as being better than the tight equipment most prefer. 
> We should follow science then, rather than what old timers say, :-) 
> I think this would depend on which old timers you are referencing.

This gets back to the debate between science and street smarts. To me, it is not a choice but a necessity to take in all of it and find out ourselves what is real and what is rank speculation. Scientists rightly seek out underlying principles and professionals are mostly interested in what works. Sitting on the fence, one can fall in either direction, but the best view is from the fence.

PLB

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