From: "Dave Cushman" <dave.cushman@lineone.net>
Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 07:52:12 +0100
To: <BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Fw: Wintering with screen bottoms

Hi All

I do not like cross posting messages as they clutter up the system, but I
forward this one as the weather conditions described may mean more to some of you on this list.

Best regards & 73s... Dave Cushman G8MZY
Beekeeping & Bee Breeding Website
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman

----- Original Message -----
From: "Lloyd Spear" <lloydspear@MSN.COM>
To: <BEE-L@listserv.albany.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 1:56 PM
Subject: Wintering with screen bottoms

Jay, in southern Ontario (Canada) wonders about wintering
with screen bottoms.

I am near Albany, New York, where I suspect the winters
are longer, if not colder, than in southern Ontario.

I winter with screen bottoms with no difficulty, and know
another beekeeper (one of the best commercial operators
around) who has done so for over 40 years!

As far as any drafts having any negative effect on the bees,
recent studies have disproved the old myth about bees
constantly rotating their position within the cluster. Instead,
bees maintain their position for several weeks, depending on
how often a warm spell arrives. Those on the outside of the
cluster provide insulation and exist in a state of almost
frozen... from which they readily recover. Those on the inside
generate heat and keep the cluster center at 90 degrees F.

My advice is save your effort, and bee disturbance, and keep
the screens on all winter.

Lloyd