Dave, in some areas of the country bee hives don't have to have as much room for winter stores as others. In my area we only need about 35lb of stores for winter.
Most in my area only keep one deep with a super in the winter, and never add another deep or super for the brood in the peek of the season. They only add supers for honey stores. Now I do agree with my area only needing 35lbs of stores to get through the winter but I also want plenty of stores to help my hives in the spring build up. I'm not one to pull every last drop of honey out of my hives just so I can go back later and feed syrup or honey back to them. (I'm lazy, and I think the honey is better for them)
I like to run at least 2 deeps on mine year round. This will give plenty of room for brood production and much more winter stores than they realy need. With doing it this way I never have to feed the hives and they come out of the winter very strong.
Remember when you look at a hive the first comb on the out side will have honey in it, the next will most likely be full of honey and pollen. If this is the case on both sides then you have droped your brood nest down to only 6 frames IF you are running 10 frames in a box. The other frames will have honey and pollen at the tops and ends, so how much room do you have for the queen now....what about when she is laying 15,000 to 2,000 eggs a day?....How many cells is on a standard fram?...So you see what I'm talking about when I say the queen needs plenty of room.
Once you go to 2 or 3 deeps the bees will still keep honey and pollen on the sides but you will have plenty of room in the middle for the queen, and the bees will not store as much if any honey around the top and bottom bars where the queen is crossing over from one frame to another.
I have read and have played with unlimited brood nest (UBN) or 3 deeps. I have had a real problem getting the bees to finish out the top deep and move into a super. (I may need to give them another season to help build up)I have found that using 2 deeps work quite well in my area, and I don't have to worry about the queen running out of room. I will keep 2 or 3 UBN hives until I learn the art of it or find that it doesn't work in this area.
The only draw back to building up hives into 2 or 3 deep is you will most likely lose a season letting them build up. If you look at the pros and cons I'd have to say go with the 2 or 3 deeps.
Ther are several good post on this subject in beesource. Give the search a try and you will be able to read till your eyes fall out
I hope this helps
BB
[This message has been edited by BILLY BOB (edited January 03, 2004).]