Joel W. Govostes wrote:
>
> About 3 years ago, I switched all my brood chambers over from 10 to 9 frames. This is recommended by Richard Taylor, Walter Kelley, and others
in the books. Basically, it makes removal of brood nest combs much
easier.  In addition,it gives the bees more cluster-space and improves
ventilation.
 
        Nine wooden frames are much easier to handle, and thats how most
of my colonies are, but my favorite broodnest by far is 10 Piercos. They
are easy to work and the nest is more compact. The Pierco frames are
perfectly straight and do not warp so the spacing stays perfect. This is
important for early buildup. In cool weather, bees can only raise the
amount of brood they can keep warm. Closer spacing will give the bees
more comb area within the cluster, resulting in more early brood. A few
years ago a beekeeper named Hoover wrote for Gleanings. He advocated the
use of eleven frames per broodnest for the above reason. Of course the
frames were special. I doubt if nine per box results in more ventilaton
because the bees will just draw the combs thicker.