WOW ;) >if you could elaborate a little more on what you say about the internal temperature of the hive.
Well, it's the temperature inside the hive but outside the cluster.
>I may elaborate myself on my queery. Our temperatures in the wintertime are varied, but I am thinking that our average temperatures (and I will use F) would be around 40-45 F, varies alot, but usually not too much colder than that, because of the rainy climate. We can have hard freezing for a couple of weeks in January, and that is common, but not usually before or after this time. Your comment suggests to me that the bees in my particular area would be able to move to their food stores easily for most of the winter here and not starve because they could not reach it. Did I get this information correct?
Basically they may not be warm enough to totally rearrange the stores at 40 F but the cluster can easily find the stores and move to them. At -20 F they can't move at all. They get stuck, especially if there is brood. Yours could still get the cluster stuck on brood, but at 40 F the cluster can send out "fingers" to find the stores.
On a sunny day, I have seen mine take a cleansing flight in the 40s. But they go right back in. Upper 40s on a sunny calm day I've seen them fly more. But the books all say that's wrong.