Jim {Member,
The only time that I go into the hives during winter is when I?m pretty sure the hive is dead. Then I take it apart and move the supers inside to protect them.
Jim}
I realize that some parts of the world, even here in North America there are drastic differences in winter temperatures. Michael's home sounds pretty rough to me, and there is TheHoneyPump up in Canada which sounds like a harsh winter also. Look and Michael Palmers operation, goodness gracious! Here in North Mississippi we do have some, what we consider, cold spells with and occasional, O now and then and sometimes sub zero though rare. One of my uncles lives more south in Mississippi (Hattiesburg) Where when cold here, looks like picnic weather there! How do you guys and gals in these cold areas determine when a hive is dead without going through a lot of trouble? I have looked into infrared imaging cameras. I do have a inferred thermometer that is very accurate and I have used in a cutout situation to locate the general area where the cluster of bees were in a wall, and may I add. It did the trick! Though only showing a few degrees warmer through the wall it was a big help. Wouldn't this also help you folks during winter to detect the heat of the hive? No higher than outside temp. = dead hive?