BBKA Forum

I have always had my frames the 'cold way' which seems logical if bees move up from a nuc to a full-sized hive as they are orientated the same after the move. It's also easier to inspect as you can do it from either side to save your back as you only have to lean over half-way.
However glancing through Roger Patterson's book the other week I noticed that his view is that bees survive better over winter the cold way.
Has anyone heard of any studies of this?

Not seen any studies but have all of mine warm way and inspect from the rear. But lost 1 out 16 last winter....not really lost she turned into a drone layer.

But surely OMF negates the argument at least slightly as it dates back to solid floor days?
I leave trays out btw as in my current setup moisture problems are a bigger threat than cold.

Its amazing how we do things differently and our bees still survive....I leave my trays in over winter
My thoughts are they are trying to retain heat inside the cluster and although they are well insulated any thing that removes heat from a hive (matchsticks and crown-boards anyone?) will cause them to work harder and use more stores to maintain their core temperature.
The single most biggest difference I noticed when using insulated hives (poly) was the low winter store usage.

From my experience's it makes no difference at all..nucs go into full hives the cold way.. some go the warm way half way through the season some don't ..sometimes by mistake supers go onto a warm way hive the cold way but that does not matter either..i do like the warm way better as most of my hives are side by side so rear inspections are better for me..as Nigel says the bees deal with whatever we throw at them..