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Hive bodies

1404 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  willbasketball21
Hey.. I live in Northern Georgia and i was just wondering if i should use the 1 hive body for brood w/ excluder and super for food stores or 2 hive bodies used for both brood and food.. Right now my five hives are in just one hive body with and excluder and supers above..? help please
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I would say 2 hive bodies with no excluder, I've never had success with excluder's. Thats just my opinion.
2 deep hive bodies gives the queen more laying room and the colony more room in which to store the year's food supply. We need to remember the goal is to bring the colony through the winter in the strongest possible condition, not just to bring it through the winter. Leading up to the spring flow a good queen will have 14 to 16 frames with brood in a double deep, she can't lay that much in 1 deep and a medium.

Square inches of comb space can be met by other hive configurations but 2 deeps are good if weight is not a problem. Also remember the comb used for brood comb should be the best comb possible, the queen can't lay to her full potential in poorly drawn comb.
Okay i think im convinced then! What about during winter? Will they store enough food in the 2 hive bodies or should i leave a super with honey on them too...? what about excluders?
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