Hi Mark and Everyone,

>    
>   There you go, in your last sentence, putting your needs before the needs of the bees

Well, that's what happens when one requires the bees to live in the 
beekeeper's equipment, for the beekeeper's convenience, rather than in 
the tree itself. :>)))

The focus on commercial beekeeping is important for commercial 
beekeepers. But thinking that another type of focus is of lesser merit 
and somehow inferior to a commercial point of view is typical of the one 
size fits all thinking. The discussion concerning square frames 
illustrates my point. The entire emphasis on that discussion centers on 
what a beekeeper would be comfortable lifting. Yet, although a single 
deep hive can be lifted, it's neither easy nor comfortable. And how many 
beekeepers run a hive in a single deep? Want to try lifting a double or 
a triple hive, ready for winter, by hand? How many commercial beekeepers 
still lift any hives by hand anymore? Mark, I hope you're not still 
lifting and throwing everything by hand.

And there's not a single thought about the impact of the shape/size of 
the box on the colony itself, only on the impacts to the beekeeper. The 
bee is a very adaptable creature and can function in many circumstances 
in spite of our enlightened  equipment and management. But in other 
areas, our standard practices, can negatively impact the bees. Today, a 
commercial focus requires that a beekeeper optimize the moving of boxes 
and to a much lesser extent the subtleties of the bees themselves.

In this area, an amateur can  have a great advantage over the 
commercial  guy. He can have the time and energy to focus primarily on 
the bees themselves and to a lesser extent on the moving of boxes. And 
he can try options that are way beyond anything an economic feasibility 
study would promote as feasible.

Concerning lifting supers, a smaller super is much easier to lift than a 
larger one. But maybe there are other alternatives that don't involve 
lifting any supers at all. And not lifting a super is much easier than 
lifting any super, no matter how shallow :>)))

Regards
Dennis
Starting throwing 8 frame deeps, 5 high by 5 across in 1968
Continued throwing 9 frame deeps 5 high by 5 across in 1976
Started tossing 9 frame shallows and mediums 9 high to 12 high by 5 
across in 1993
Stopped throwing all supers in 2000 and liking it much better

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