Need advice on several topics

[Hi-Tech]

I have been beekeeping for about 10 years and with the exception of a top bar I had for a season, have been a pretty conventional beekeeper that followed most, if not all, of the preconceived rules. Now, I am ready to break out a little and want some advice on what I am planning to do and what I should do. Because part of what I like about beekeeping is making my own equipment, I will be making all of this new gear and adding some customizations I have thought about over the years. My goal is to get them in the new equipment and prepare them for winter.

Currently I have 2 hives:
> Italians - Installed from a nuc back in May. Currently in 1 deep and one medium. Queen seems to be laying good and lots of bees.
> Caucasians - installed from a package in mid June but because a lot of bees drifted to the other hive, I have moved this hive to a 5 frame medium nuc. Queen seems to be doing good and just gave them a frame of brood from the other hive to give them a little boost.

Equipment Plans:
> Hive bodies - I am moving to all 8 frame mediums.
> Frames - My medium frames are all plastic foundation but I have started cutting the center out of the plastic to let them go foundationless. My goal is to be completely foundationless by end of next summer.
> Bottom Board - My custom bottom board is still in the design stage. I am not sure if I want a SBB or a solid (great schools of thought on both) and if I go with screened, should it have a place for an insert if I need to close or reduce it for winter? I just moved to central Kentucky from South Alabama so I have zero experience getting bees to survive winters. (please weigh in heavy on overwintering tips and ideas). It will have a bottom entrance that I can open and close (if I decide to open it at all) but no landing board. The main entrance will be a top entrance.
> Top Cover - I have never used an inner cover and am not sure I need to start now (opinions?). My top cover is a Michael Bush style with the inside shimmed to allow the front to be open for an entrance. I am still thinking about the best way to reduce this if needed but that shouldn't be hard. I have a hole cut on the top for a top mason jar feeding but I attached #8 wire on the inside of the hole to allow replacing the feed jar without opening a hole into the hive. I should also squash fewer bees putting the jar back.

That's where I am at... The nuc hive is the smallest right now but its the one I really want to make though winter (the Caucasians). Actually considering merging the two hives and keeping the Caucasian queen (the nuc). (better chance of overwintering with one strong hive?). We had a record cold winter this past year with a lot of temps between 0 and 10 F for weeks. Please give me any suggestions on my equipment choices as well as wintering suggestions. Also a little concerned about winter feeding. I have always fed my bees through the mild Alabama winter with a mason jar on the top cover but here in Kentucky that probably wont work with the freezing temps.

I am looking forward to hearing from everyone...

Thanks in advance!

Hi-Tech

[cao]

As far as overwintering your hives, I overwintered two of my hives in a deep and two mediums, the other three were a deep and one medium.  The larger two were heavy enough that I didn't have to feed at all.  The smaller 3(splits I made last year)were a little light so I put sugar blocks on top.  They needed it with the cold winter we had.  I think that your larger hive has plenty of time to build up enough before winter.  Your smaller one may need some help.  I have several nucs(small hives) in various sizes right now that I plan to overwinter.  I'll see how they grow through the summer to see if they need fed this fall or over winter.  I think that if you can get your nuc to fill two mediums,  with some sugar on top, they would make it through the winter.  My hives have screen bottoms that I closed for winter and inner and outer cover.  Last winter I put a piece of foam insulation between the inner and top cover to help with condensation.  My hives have only a bottom entrance.  I'm not too far from you so some of this might apply to you and your bees.  Hope it helps.

[Colobee]

I've been rebuilding and can relate. I've spent a lot of hours "re-thinking" and the most significant changes I'm making are the divided bottom "double nuc" AKA Michael Palmer, and going to 8 frame (mediums).

One thing I came up with is an "outrigger" for the 8's, so they can be stacked on top of 10's ( to be used exclusively for brood chambers, from here on out). A 10 frame is 16-1/4" wide & my 8's are 14". That leaves a 1-1/8" gap on either side, when an 8 frame is centered over a 10 frame box.

Put simply, a 2x4, cut to length - 19-1/4", ripped on an angle to shed rain, and (in my case) planed to 1-1/8" to fit. I'll attach them to the outside bottoms of a single 8 frame box, and set them atop two 10 frame mediums. That way I still utilize the 10's I have - as brood chambers, where I seldom have to heft them, and can stack 8 frame supers up to lighten the super/extraction process.

There will be a slight "bee-space" issue under the "outrigger", but I suspect it will be manageable. We'll see!

I've been enjoying making new (solid) bottom boards & inner covers & other miscellaneous out of free pallets ( mostly hardwood).

I'm not in a position to advise you on regional equipment concerns - SBB or no...

Good luck