>
>I used to run 9 frames in honey supers.  Now I go with 8, evenly spaced
>across the super.  This works great.  The combs are fat, easy to uncap
>right back to the wood and yield more wax.  My guess is that the 8 frames
>might yield a little more honey than 9 as they are drawn out more with
>greater cell volume.  (Not sure, tho'.)  The bees seem to work very well
>with the extra "elbow room," which gradually is lessened as the combs are
>extended out.  They appear to respect this  extra-wide spacing in the
>honey-storage area without problems.  Gives them a chance to do some wax
>construction.  Another nice thing about 8's is that your handling is
>decreased by 11% when extracting (and each comb-unit holds more).  Yes
>there is burr comb, often containing lots of honey.  This is scraped right
>down during uncapping with a few fast sweeps of the uncapping knife, and
>the frame is clean again - no problem.   Hope this helps.  Toodaloo,  J.
 
After all the years since this controversy first started ie. less frames per
super, I still question this. If we are into honey production are we not
wasting honey making extra wax?
        A standard box with 10 frames will hold as much honey as an 8 frame,
per volume. If, on extracting we cut the frame back to wood, are we not
producing a lot more wax than necessary with a 10 frame set up, and
therefore wasting honey on un-necessary wax production.
        A final point, with an 8 frame set up, you can't slip a frame into
the brood box without cutting it around!!!
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