Why are the honey supers and cooresponding frames much smaller than the deeps down below? Would it be ok to use an additional "deep" for the honey super? Please advise.
David
Sure,...
if you don't mind lifting 100+ pounds of honey while surrounded by angry bees in the heat of Summer. The mediums weigh around 40 - 60 pounds. The shallows less than that. Mind you i'm talking about ten frame boxes. Lots of people like 8 frame mediums for bees & honey. Everything is interchangeable and light.
Deep won't get you any more honey than smaller boxes. The bees make honey not the box.
Ok - got it I think. There's no specific reason other than that they are easier to handle, is that correct. The bees wouldn't necessarily care if there was and additional deep etc... Instead of the med honey super, right?
You can use deep, medium or shallow supers, that's up to you. The bigger the super the more it weighs. Some beeks like the smaller supers for easier handling and on your back. Some of us aren't a young or fit as we used to be. When I got my hives the gentle man who had them was in his 80's and used shallow supers, so thats what I have. Depending on your operation and back should determine what to use. Good luck with your bees.
Joe
Quote from: dfizer on August 08, 2012, 08:04:39 PM
The bees wouldn't necessarily care if there was and additional deep etc... Instead of the med honey super, right?
Honey-wise, they wouldn't if you had a medium, or a Deep, or an interior wall of a house. They're only going to make so much honey.
I run shallows. It is a weight thing for me. But there are folks that run deeps for honey. But they are more man and I. I do place deeps on top of some hives just to get combs built out. And they are a bear to move. A bear to uncap. And more of a bear to spin in the extractor. Just all the weight of the frame. But I like placing bees on some drawn comb.
Also consider the flows in your area. A deep is not quite twice as large as a shallow. A short flow might only fill the deep a half or two thirds. Two shallows would give you one full shallow to harvest and one left for the bees. A half empty box is best left for the bees. Even with heavy flows the shallows or mediums are filled faster so they can be harvested faster for better chance of collecting varietal honeys or cleaner comb for cut comb honey.
Generally those that run all deeps have long intense flows and do only extracted honey.
I believe the mediums are a good trade off between weight, and the usable space on foundation versus the cost. If you look at shallow frames and foundation, they cost the same as mediums.
You don't have to lift the whole deep box to get the honey, you can take a frame at a time. When I take honey out of a deep I take the frames out one at a time and lean them against the hive then start with the first one and shake the bees off and put the frame into a deep with a top in the back of my truck. I know it's more work then using a leaf blower or stink bomb but it solves the weight problem and save the back. I mostly use mediums but have some with all deeps.