Deeps or Mediums or both?

[Hi-Tech]

I have seen several of you post about different hive body styles. MB perfers to use all mediums to keep the frames interchangeable. I like that idea but is 2 mediums enough for brood, pollen and honey or do I need to use 3?

I have seen other posts say you need deeps. I am going to be ordering 3 more hives soon and I would like to hear all opinions...

I think Understudy is asking a similar question at http://www.beemaster.com/beebbs/viewtopic.php?t=4987

Please tell me what configurations you all like to use and why...

Thanks for all of the great advice so far... This place has been a life saver.

[manowar422]

Thirty medium frames are enough space for brood IMO.

If your queen doesn't like to lay in the very bottom frames,
she may move up into the first honey super. This year I'm
running all my hives with SBBs and slatted racks. Hopefully
the slatted racks will keep 'em laying all the way to the bottom.

Time will tell :)

[thegolfpsycho]

It's a great tool to have all the same size equipment for interchangability.  I have always used deeps.  Having said that, for the first time, the deeps seemed awfully heavy last year when I harvested.  I made a small expansion this year, and stayed with all deeps.  I'm hoping it wasn't a mistake.

I think 3 mediums are plenty for brood, but if the queen moves up to the 4th, I wouldn't get excited.  Well.. maybe I would.  Great big colonys that make big crops always excite me.

[Michael Bush]

>I have seen several of you post about different hive body styles. MB perfers to use all mediums to keep the frames interchangeable. I like that idea but is 2 mediums enough for brood, pollen and honey or do I need to use 3?

I just pile them on when they need the room and take them off to harvest.  :)  They use for brood, whatever they use.  But then I don't have an excluder and I leave them as much honey as they are covering on a 60 F or so day in the fall.  Basically three mediums equals two deeps.  It's the same decision you have to make with deeps except you have smaller units and so you have more control.  Mine are all eight frame mediums now.  I went from deeps and shallows to all mediums and then to all eight frame mediums.  Two eight frame mediums equals one deep.

>I have seen other posts say you need deeps.

I have no deeps.

[Hi-Tech]

Thanks everyone. I am still interested in hearing about what everybody else uses but i think I will be going with all mediums for now. The excluder issue is still up in the air though..  

[Finsky]

Deeps are good for brooding and mediums are good when you take yield from hives.  Langstroth box full of honey is not nice to handle.

Different size frames are not problem because i handle them as box units.

[Understudy]

In my post on brood chambers I was curious as to how many the bees would need for brood. I have no problem with deeps, mediums, or shallows. I have deeps right now and I am adding mediums because a deep loaded is heavy and I don't want to be an old man with a bad back. I started with deeps because I bought a beginners complete hive. I also did not realize at the time they could get so heavy. I bought another deep because I understood that two deeps were a good idea for brood(some may use more some may use less). I was trying to find out if I could give the bees enough space for brood and then add hive boxes for honey. I was looking to use a standard of one deep and one medium.

Things I am learning bees don't always think like humans do, imagine that. I am sure there are some hives that would be very happy in a single deep box and others that will need more space. The thing I am beginning to understand is bees know what they want, they just don't send emails telling you what they want. So you have to learn to understand bee. Bees want space to not have to swarm. That means you could do everything right and they still might swarm. But if you do nothing to accomadate them they will definitly swarm possibly even abscond.

Since I am still very new at this here is what my bees have told me. If we start bearding at night and it is a reasonable temprature and they aren't fanning or cooling the hive, they need more space. If they are building swarm cells on the bottom of the frames they need more space (and it may already be to late to prevent the swarm at that stage).

I would like to next year move all the hives into medium body boxes. For the bad back reason I mentioned earlier.  

Please understand lots of people use deeps. It is very easy to move from a nuc to a deep. Because the frames are the same. So don't be put off by someone saying use deeps or someone saying use mediums. It is for many simply a matter of what works for them and none of them are really wrong. However some people have some strong opinons on subjects when it comes to bees and their care. Other have laws or codes that dictate how they must have their hives also, they are not going by opinons, they are going by what the government tells them so as to not get fined or shut down.

Sincerely,
Brendhan