[cjmcharlotte]

Yesterday I wanted to put an empty shallow super between my second and third story deeps. I was able to use some leverage to get the third story deep off and down onto the cinder blocks but then when I had to pick it back up and get it back on top of the super, I realized that it was really, really, really heavy.

I stood there contemplating my choices and finally just had to psych myself up to lift it. I used my whole body to get it to the point where the edge was resting on the new shallow and then I could tilt it and slide it.

You guys weren't joking about those being heavy!! I'm young and healthy and can carry two kids, three gallons of milk, and still find my keys in my purse but that deep was officially too much. I'll just have to leave it until I am ready to harvest I guess.

(My Plan B was to pull out some frames from the deep, put the box on, and put the frames back in but everyone was snuggled up in there and I didn't want to disturb everything by pulling it all apart. And I didn't have anywhere clean to put so many honey- and bee-covered frames blah blah...)

 

[mike haney]

if you damage your back you'll regret it-forever. better to buy,beg or borrow an empty deep and swap frames. put them beack in the same position and it will go surprisingly well. good luck,mike

 

[Monie]

I hear ya! I can barely lift mine when they're full! You should have seen me trying to move them to the new outyard the other day. I was hunched over and shuffling like an old woman! Thus, my current transition to all mediums. I can lift those with no problem. Currently, I have a few medium frames in my deeps. The girls just add comb to the bottom. No biggie.

 

[cjmcharlotte]

Good to know! I wasn't brave enough to try converting to medium frames in a deep but maybe if I pull some deep frames for harvesting, I'll replace them with medium frames and let the girls start working on them now.

 

[Monie]

There you go! Once you've got the deep frames pulled, you can cut them down to mediums if you like. You could also stick a partition in the deeps and use them as double nucs, with medium frames.

 

[odfrank]

Folks would have less problems lifting boxes if they added cleats to them.

 

[kbfarms]

I second the cleats. I was suprised at how much the cleats helped. I have a bunch of homemade boxes given to me with no handholds. Added cleats to them (including the supers).....what a difference, from the deeps to the shallow supers, sssoooo much easier to move. Now I just need to add cleats to all sides instead of just the long sides!!!

That being said, deeps are just too heavy for me. I do take an empty box and pull frames before lifting.

 

[dcross]

If you put med. frames in a deep box, they will attach the comb to the top bars of the box below!

 

[Monie]

Yes, they will attach comb. It's not that big of a deal to cut it away. A necessary evil, if you will, when transitioning from deeps to mediums. This won't be an everlasting issue. Once all the deep frames in a hive body are pulled, the medium frames can be put in a medium body, and the deep body set aside.

 

[greengecko]

:thumbsup: I use eight frame medium supers.

 

[bigbore]

I am wondering why she is running 3 deeps? trying for drawn comb? I winter with 2 deeps here in WV. I know she doesn't need 3 south of here.

I decided a long time ago, med's were the heaviest honey super I wanted on any hive.

 

[cjmcharlotte]

It's because I'm new and still learning

My first summer, I got my nuc late and they built out two deeps and didn't touch my shallow super. No honey as expected.

My second summer, they swarmed on Easter Sunday and again didn't touch my shallow super for the rest of the year. No honey.

This is my third summer and I was darned if I was going to mess up again. I reversed my two over-wintering deeps at the end of Feb and then the last week in March I took the built frames from the two deeps with nectar and brood in them and distributed them among three deeps and added ten empty frames for them to build, a la M. Bush. If I had had comb in those shallows or any confidence in what I was doing, I would have done it differently. I just didn't want to miss the boat again.

 

[camero7]

i put cleats above the handholds on all my supers. it truly makes them much easier to deal with.

 

[sylus p]

Ummm.
Well.
Nevermind.

 

[Countryboy]

If you are only running a few hives, you may want to consider taking an empty deep box with you. That way you always have a place to put frames. Using an empty box to store frames can make manipulating heavy boxes much easier. It may take a little longer, but your back will thank you for it. (And if you ever drop a heavy box full of bees, you will quickly regret not taking the time to lighten the load.)

You can also lean frames up against the side of the hive. Just stand them on the end bar, and let the other end bar rest against the hive. The end bars aren't covered in honey or sticky burr comb, so they don't pick up much dirt or leaves.