There is a lot of advice online which tells beekeepers to ventillate the top of their hives by putting an entrance there. The reasons behind this are:

1. Bees release metabolic water as they consume honey. The warm moisture rises up to the lid of the hive and will condense and rain down on the bee cluster.

2. If you only have one entrance at the bottom it may get blocked by snow and the bees could suffocate.

I say and a lot of seasoned beekeepers say nae! With the proper ventilation neither of these reasons are valid.

I think we are all in agreement mesh floors are the way forward, they offer the right ventilation which cancels out these problems. I know a expert beekeeper who has many apiaries across Scotland. She inspected her hives in the Spring for CCD and noticed hives sporting mesh floors faired far better than those not.

My advise dont mess around with upper ventilation, just invest in a mesh floor for your hive.