I understand that when trying to do the best thing you may come up against well tried practises. Sometimes, although the well tried practises works...you have to question its efficiency. In this case.....OMF during winter. I really find it hard to believe that having a wide open area at the bottom of the hive is going to be beneficial to the bees. Some people say it acts as a baffle with the wind....hmmmm. Sometimes I wonder if these same people spend much time outdoors at night during the winter. The loss of heat due to wind chill would be substantial. It doesn't mean that the bees won't survive....but they will lose heat and use up stores to maintain cluster warmth. It means the spring build up will be slower. I understand about the varroa thing.....but in the winter I hope my bees will only have a very low varroa load...so perhaps the OMF is mainly needed in the summer. Or perhaps it's only needed for monitoring varroa drop after treatment. Any moisture will still be able to escape through the bottom if it needs to...
So I am going to enclose my hives...only the entrance...a protected entrance will be open.
