Good Grief! I think I stepped in something. Well Thank you for all your answers. So to respond...
rdy-b,Cool video, I subscribed. One question though.
What do the bees do with the news paper? Don't they shred it?
-I see what you did there. Ha ha!
buzzbee,Like I said I found the T-cover & inner cover dry. The water was in linear puddles that matched the position of the frames. The water was not strictly in the middle like it came through the hole in the inner cover. So I'm stuck trying to figure out which surface is the culprit.
finski,-oy, The Sugar Argument. The water cold dripping through the bees will probably disturb their 'sleep' more than me taking 5 minutes to toss in some sugar on a 50 F degree day (11 C).
-I would not block the vents in the vent box with the styrofoam. I would leave a tight crawlspace in the vent box. It would keep the heat down by the bees but allow the moisture to evacuate.
-Using permeable insulation is a good idea. I've seen videos of how they do that in Europe. However I'd rather get the moisture out of the hive than let it build a frost pocket, high in the hive, safely away from the bees.
-Yes an unprotected gap might lead to mice. I'll cover it with a steel mesh.
-Tsk, tsk. No advice has been 'stupid' here. You should know that not all climates are the same. Do you really think you methods would work in, let's say, Texas? There are many universal practices but also numerous regional ones too.
Wynoochee_newbee_guy,-I asked my bee club about leaving the SBB open. Absolutely no one does that around here. However, I gave it a try since the arguments for it, I thought, were good ones. My problem was the with a single Deep on this hive. Last month the bees were mere inches away from 20 F degree temps day after day. That's when I got uncomfortable about it and closed it off.
-I understand blocking the wind. I couldn't shake the idea that it create a cubby for critters & such to use the same way the bees would. Plus I'm rabidly anti-straw bale. Nothing but cockroach breeding farms they are. Get all up in my hive messing around touching my honey. !NEVER!
-No wrapping here either.
Again Thanks for all the responses.
aun Aprendo