using all deep boxes?

[DaggerD]

Is it a bad idea to use only deep boxes for the entire hive. I have three deep boxes and I'm hoping I'll be fine with just them.

[Zane]

I started bee's last year and figured why not do the same thing and stick w/ just deeps.Simpler being all the same size etc. Then this last fall when I lifted a deep full of honey and broke the pallet I was standing on and pulled a muscle in my back, I decided med or shallow supers would be a better idea. Alot easier to handle when loaded w/ honey. If you like handling heavy boxes go for it but you might consider smaller supers for your honey production. Mr Bush uses med supers w/ 8 frames for everything(I believe). Why didnt I think of that when I started? oh well.

[hankdog1]

Are you gonna use the other deep as a super? If so i sure hope you have a strong back as they can get really heavey.

[standman]

They are very heavy, but if you only have one hive, you can do it. When you get ready to move the super, take something to the apiary with you, remove half of the frames and then move the hive body. There are a couple of advantages to running all deeps: if you want to checkerboard your hive next spring, you have a lot to work with; if you begin a second hive, you have full frames of honey to move into it; if you run it without a queen excluder and the queen moves up, you have more options to manipulate frames to move her back into the bottom deep. I really like Michael Bush's reasons for using all mediums, but as he says "everything works if you let it."

[odfrank]

. I really like Michael Bush's reasons for using all mediums, but as he says "everything works if you let it."

I tried letting my first marriage work for years, but in the end it didn't. It's a cute quote but not infallible.

In my neighborhood you would in some years need probably six or seven deeps for the most successful hives and probably four average.

[dbest]

We use mostly deeps. One trick is make sure you use alot of them. The bees will put most of the honey in the middle combs. Another trick is to hire big high schoolers to help with pulling. I like being able to pull mouse damaged combs up instead of tossing them.

[Jorn Johanesson]

Is it a bad idea to use only deep boxes for the entire hive. I have three deep boxes and I'm hoping I'll be fine with just them.

I have been using deep boxes all the time, and yes they are heavy. But it is a good idea to have the same frame size in all boxes. My poly boxes is 4.5kg and a full frame LS can hold 3kg honey so a box with full honey frames is 34 kg or even more if you are lucky I have had a box with nearly 40kg of honey+ the box.

Whatever you use of boxes, take care of that they are all the same so that if you grab some equipment you know that it fits.

Best regards Jorn Johanesson, Denmark

[Jorn Johanesson]

I just forgot!

You can divide a full LS box into two, where one side is a thin oil hardened massonite plate. This will give you two 5 frames LS boxes you can place side by side on top of a normal LS box. Those boxes can also be used as five frames nuc's or mating boxes if you are trying to make queens.

Best Regards
Jorn Johanesson, Denmark

[DaggerD]

In my neighborhood you would in some years need probably six or seven deeps for the most successful hives and probably four average.

Forgive the dumb question, but if I only have three deeps and nothing else, couldn't I just remove any frames of capped honey and replace with new frames when things are starting to look full? Or is it just a dumb idea to only have three deeps and nothing else? I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to make some new shallows or mediums to put on. And I have a bunch of extra deep frames I could cut down to fit, or even use top bars, as I also have a TBH.

[Jorn Johanesson]

Forgive the dumb question, but if I only have three deeps and nothing else, couldn't I just remove any frames of capped honey and replace with new frames when things are starting to look full?

of course you can. 2 third capped will be enough to get a honey within recommended water contents.

Jorn

[PCM]

Yes, you can get by with just 3 full size hive boxes.
The problem I see is, you will need to freeze the honey frames, or extract
them when taken off each time.
I would much prefer to add additional boxes as needed, then process them all at once !
During a good year you might need to freeze a lot of frames, or be processing a number of times to keep that one box empty.

Every body do it your own way, and remember !

Bee Keeping is just a expensive hobby !

PCM

[Oldbee]

For only a few hives, most small [cheaper] honey extractors are made to hold more medium/shallow frames, 3-6, compared to 2-3 deep frames. It would take more time [tedious?] to extract a deep of frames. Small extractor - $250-$350: Large -$500-$750. Borrowing, renting or used extractor is an option.

Comb honey: You would have to use foundationless [or starter strips] in the deep frames to make it palatable. You can use thin foundation [or foundationless] in the medium/shallow honey super frames, which are easier to handle for comb honey.

Of course, deep boxes full of honey are heavy, [80-90 lbs.] so one would have to be in good physical condition and with no worry of back problems.

[bejay]

as stated by many you can use all deeps, its really just personal prefrence the only disadvatage is the weight but you do not really even have to lift a full deep, you could easily remove say 5 frames and place in a nuc or other box and then your only lifting half the weight if you only have a few hives it doesnt take long and saves your back.
when it comes to extracting there is no real disadvantage less frames to extract and uncap would just as soon extract 2 deeps than 3 meduims any day.

[reneal]

I'm going to chime in with my usual reply that only having three boxes, of whatever size puts you as a real disadvantage if your hive swarms, or you need to do a split, or Joe down the street calls about a swarm of bees in his yard you can have, just put them in your box. If you don't have an empty box around, you've got a problem. Been there done that.

[Reid]

Sure deeps full of honey are heavier, but using deeps does mean less cost overall and splitting the brood nest in half fewer times while doing inspections.
As has been said, if you have a full deep full of honey and you can't lift it, just move a few frames to a new box until you get to a weight that's right for you.
Or, get some friends. We all seem to be a personable lot, but when you read these posts you you'd think we all have these huge apiaries that we manage all by ourselves. Even the least friendly of us could probably wrangle up a friend or two.
Or, get wife. You should try one. They are handy for all kids of stuff.
-Reid

[bnatural]

Or, get wife. You should try one. They are handy for all kids of stuff.
-Reid

Was that a Freudian slip?

I'm thinkin' a gettin' me one a those. Wife, not kid.

Bill

[BoBn]

Forgive the dumb question, but if I only have three deeps and nothing else, couldn't I just remove any frames of capped honey and replace with new frames when things are starting to look full? Or is it just a dumb idea to only have three deeps and nothing else? I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to make some new shallows or mediums to put on. And I have a bunch of extra deep frames I could cut down to fit, or even use top bars, as I also have a TBH.

Depends on the flow. Sometimes they need lots more space to deposit the nectar while it is being turned into honey. Last year, by August I had 3 deeps and three shallows on swarm that I got May 30. The brood nest & pollen took up most of 3 deeps.

[Show-me]

I cut mine in half and made five frame deep supers out of them. I can still stack two side by side and get a seal. My experiment for the summer.

[Michael Bush]

>Is it a bad idea to use only deep boxes for the entire hive. I have three deep boxes and I'm hoping I'll be fine with just them.

Using all the same sized boxes has many advantages:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#uniformframesize

The downside of deeps:
"...no man's back is unbreakable and even beekeepers grow older. When full, a mere shallow super is heavy, weighing forty pounds or more. Deep supers, when filled, are ponderous beyond practical limit."--Richard Taylor, The Joys of Beekeeping

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#lighterboxes

[Tom G. Laury]

When they're like a box of rocks, you're usually so happy you don't care. And yes I have a bad back.