OH that is a cute thought Roger...... bees all bundled up in snow suits. Maybe they all came out to make little snow angels, huh?
I think you're right Al. The windbreak, and I'd imagine the dark color for the hive, makes that area probably alot warmer.
I saw a show once about someone building a straw bale house. They had a thermomoter on the inside wall (more of a corner, no roof, and not a four wall building even, only 3 walls up) and a thermomoter on the outside wall. It was over 20 degrees warmer on the "inside". It just had to do with the wind break and the radiant heat from the straw bales.
Beth