An update from stonecroppe (Ron) on hive temp and humidity. the initial data was premature and posted too late in the evening, those born after 1950 may not understand this. what is happening is that in the morning the inner temp is low (today 42.5deg, humidity 75%, note, outside temp 19 deg.) as day progresses the inner temp rises to 48 deg (nice), humidity to 94% (a little concerning), outside temp 26 deg (cold day).
this is the critical part. the hive is purposefully located in a mini-climate just south of a large south facing stonewall. mini-climate? for example, today, sunny, when outside temp at 11AM was 26deg, the temp recorded outside the south facing entrance side of the hive body was 53 deg (27deg above the ambient). of course, at night this effect goes away.
here is my theory -- at night at this time of the year the night temps are below the 40ish deg temps in the hive, these days much lower and since warm air rises when the outside temp is lower, the hive has ventilation from the entrance to the vent in the top telescoping cover. cool dryer air is drawn in and the warmer high humidity air is vented out. However, during the day in this mini-climate the outside air is warmer (53deg today) than the air inside the hive (48 deg every day). this, I believe, blocks ventilation and traps the buildup of humidity in the hive. All comments, well most anyway, welcomed .....Ron