Any casualties yet?

[Dark Bee]

Into my 6th year now and always overwintered on OMF.
My hives face SE with shelter from the prevailing south westerlies.
This winter we had a long spell of very cold east winds (unusual on the west coast) and I think the OMF's cost me.
Next season I plan to make some ply inserts with a small mesh hole in the middle - best of both worlds?

Your reference to the east wind does have a resonance for me now that you mention it. I had forgotten it, but about ten years ago there were 3 or 4 colonies on omf's which were open to the elements - no tray. They were in front of a mobile home, sheltered from the south and the south west winds, but after an unseasonally long period of east wind, there was no longer a buzz if the hive was tapped. Hives on the other side of the structure survived.
I am at a loss to understand why the hives failed - the east wind is cold but very dry, it dries the land very effectively. Dampness is a killer for bees and most mammals, so why did a dry wind cause the hives to fail? In hindsight I suspect isolation starvation was the primary cause.