Thanks, that is a fantastic explanation. I try and tell southern beek friends that the cluster moves very little if at all for quite awhile up here and that sometimes I won't see a "live" bee for 3-4 months, they think I'm keeping some kinda super bee or another species.
My question/assumption (not sure) is since the clusters on my Lang hives are still closer to the bottom, with lots of honey above them, they "should" have good access to the honey above. I listen to location of cluster with a stethascope and can follow their progress as they move around, but so far they're staying low, for now. My guess is that that is a good thing during winter, right?
thomas