[log in to unmask] +++++ Thanks Stan for your thoughtful consolidation and cross referencing of this thread. You wrote: >... I think it probable that bees over-wintered here in cellars in the past would have >started brood rearing in the dark. If not I would not think they would be >much good here where spring arrives so suddenly. I know a number of beekeepers do over-winter inside and hope they comment on the onset of their brood rearing and environmental factors that might be involved. I generally don't over-winter inside but did take one hive into the basement in order to provide bees continually for Bee Venom Therapy. By November, when I took it inside it was very cold that year and we already had a good layer of snow that lasted all winter so brood rearing should have stopped Although I did not verify this (more's the pity). I kept it in complete darkness around 5 degrees C (40 F) with NO OUTSIDE ACCESS. As expected here, lots of bees died throughout the winter and the population dwindled to the point that I wondered if I would loose the hive if I kept on vacuuming bees out for the BVT. But they DID start brood laying in the dark for by early April when I took it outside to pollinate my fruit trees, the hive was overflowing. I expect it was because the warmer basement allowed them to warm the brood nest earlier than the usual start (I read taking place in March although I have never had the heart to verify) and I had kept a feeder on all the time. FWIW they swarmed in May (a month early) and took up residence in a pile of empty, triple nuc boxes less than 100 feet from their hive. I find this interesting in light of the recent thread of minimum distance. I verified it WAS their swarm because I identified their marked queen - a two year old descendant from Buckfast (HTM resistant) stock. george Toronto area Canada.