Switching from 10 frame deep to 8 frame medium

[dogdrs]

I see a lot of discussion about the benefits of going with eight frame medium equipment.  I'm brand new and have only two hives. I am using standard ten frame deeps.  What's the best way to convert a hive to 8 frame mediums?

[Michael Bush]

I'm not sure there is a "best way"  but probably the goal is to end up with SOME brood (a frame or two) and the queen in the medium box and an excluder between there and the rest of the brood so it can emerge without the queen laying in it.  You can do a full cutout where you cut the comb to fit the medium frames, assuming you don't have wires or plastic.  You can pull whatever honey and pollen there is in the deep and put in mediums until they have some brood in them and then move them up.  Assuming, instead, plastic frames and/or plastic foundation, you could shake off all of the bees and run the comb through a table saw and cut it down to mediums.  You could just add the eight frame medium on top, wait for the queen to move up and then put the excluder in.  You could also just wait for next spring when the deep will probably be empty and the bees will probably be at the top.  You can put eight frame boxes on ten frame boxes like this:

http://www.bushfarms.com/images/TenFrameToEight.JPG

You can cut down boxes and frames like this:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeseightframemedium.htm

The basic idea of moving them from one thing to another is here:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesferal.htm#moving

[dogdrs]

Thank you for the info.  I think I would put the medium on top and let the queeen move up then use the excluder.  How often should i open it to see if the queen has moved up?