About overwintering with a single deep... Well, feral bees overwinter in about the volume of a single deep.  Also Pedersen Apiaries http://www.pedersenapiaries.ca/ in Sasachkewan overwinters in single deeps.  And for a trip though history...In the 1850s, Moses Quinby overwintered in a 20 x 10 x 10 box (2000 cu in).  In NY.  Outdoors.  He writes that others used a 12x12x12 box.  For comparison, a Langstroth is 19 x 16 x 9 (2700 cu in).  I'm not sure how he overwintered - I had assumed it was in 2 deeps, but somehow I did not make a note of it, so it may have been 1 deep.  He certainly provided a cozy environment - double walled boxes with insulation between, and some sort of berm to be a windbreak.  The thin-walled boxes we use in our time were cheap imitations of his boxes in his time.  

When I was reading Quinby's book "Mysteries of Beekeeping Explained (1853, free online)", I had to re-read his passages describing his box size and honey supering several times, because it was so far outside what we do in our time.  We have best practices, widely disseminated how-to books with their consensus on overwintering, bee clubs with the majority of members doing the same things - so it is hard at first to believe that any other kind of overwintering or honey supering could ever work.

Makes me wonder what assumptions about current Varroa and hive management will seem hard to believe for future generations.  As far as Seeley's observations about what works for feral colonies, I am not going to let my hives swarm, that's not nice to the neighbors and potentially a waste of bees.  But I will look at my honey makers next year as more at-risk from skyrocketing Varroa levels than my splits.  

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