First, I will give the reasons why the terminology is "warm" and "cold" way. It was originally thought that if the combs in the brood box were perpendicular to the entrance the wind would blow through the entrance and up between the combs, hence "cold", but if the combs were parallel to the entrance the wind wouldn't blow between the combs, hence "warm". There have been many experiments carried out and even with solid floors it doesn't make any difference. From that point of view it's just a matter of preference for the beekeeper, but the terminology remains, perhaps giving a false impression.
When fully inspecting colonies, if possible I prefer to work from both sides, so I don't have to reach right across the hive. If I do this on a hive that is set up the "warm" way, I will either have to work from the front or reach right across the box. If the hive is set up the "cold" way, I can work from both sides without standing in front of the entrance. It doesn't matter much if you only have a hive or two, but leaning across 10, 20 or more hives one after the other can get tiring.
I find that in autumn/early winter the bees are usually clustered on the combs at the front of the hive towards the entrance, whatever the orientation of the combs. If the hive is set up the "cold" way and there is a prolonged spell of cold weather when bees are in tight cluster, they can move up and/or back to access food, so can survive for some time until the weather warms up enough for them to break cluster and either bring food from other combs into where they have clustered, or they can move onto fresh combs of food. With the "warm" way, if the bees run out of food, they are confronted with an empty face of a comb. If the weather is cold they can't break cluster to go over, round or under the combs to find fresh food, so they starve. I have seen this on several occasions, not with my own bees, but those of others. A way round this is to put some holes about 10mm diameter in the combs, so the bees can move onto fresh food. This small and bees won't fill them up during the summer.
Isolation starvation is usually only a problem with managed colonies, as a wild colony in a tree usually has most of their food above them. Contrary to popular opinion, wild colonies can build combs in any orientation.
Bees won't put food close to their entrance, but they will put pollen there, so if you want frames of pollen for queen rearing, then run a couple of colonies the "warm" way. You should have combs of pollen readily available.
I have known beekeepers with National or Commercial hives, that are square, to run them the "cold" way during the summer for ease of inspection, then rotate them in the autumn to give them a perceived benefit in the winter. This may cause the bees a problem if it is done late, as the bees have already arranged they nest for the winter how they want it.
At the Wisborough Green BKA teaching apiary I usually run a couple of colonies the "warm" way for demonstration purposes. It is only observational and a small sample, but I have noticed the honey yields of colonies run the "warm way" is lower than those run the "cold way", or on single brood they are. I suspect this is because queens are reluctant to go around combs to lay on the other side, so the brood nest is slightly smaller, hence a smaller foraging force.
Roger Patterson.
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