THIS FIRST OF THE YEAR - rain snow mix has me thinking about beekeeping. Here's my seasonal post on wrapping hives. I have holes drilled in my deeps and i use a HALF of a styrofoam bowl to give them a little "porch" as seen by the the C shaped crescent in the picture. REMEMBER the WINTER POSITION of your inner cover hole is DOWN - this is not for the bees to escape...but rather for CONDENSATION to escape. Condensation is a HUGE PROBLEM in the hive over winter...you must have a way for moisture to escape. If you don't have one of those holes cut into your inner cover edge (i'm not talking about the one in the middle).....pry it open and slip some popsicle sticks in there. (should be just a "crack" - not to let bees out or weather in). It doesn't have to go all the way around - it could just be the front.
Some people sprinkle dry sugar on the inner cover - that will also help absorb moisture. you might consider setting it on a paper plate or use some newspaper to make your spring SCRAPE easier/cleaner. Be sure to leave the inner cover center hole open. Worse case scenario - some sprinkled sugar could act as emergency food come spring.
In this method - if you don't have holes drilled in deeps...just make the front panel - one piece.
You could still stick something under the bottom of the flap...to give them a porch/overhang.
