Elizabeth Petofi wrote: I didn't anticipate how HEAVY beehives are...

I use a hydraulicly operated loader on a tractor for lifting or moving
entire hives and for hauling loaded honey supers.  I still have to lift
supers off of the hives and onto the loader which can be positioned close
to the hive to minimize my effort.

You might consider three medium supers as a hive body instead of two full
size deeps in order to reduce lifting requirements when switching hive
bodies.  I personally have found little advantage in switching hive
bodies.  I no longer do this tedious and difficult task unless I see a
specific problem that justifies the extra work.

Can't hardly carry a super with honey in it.

Use the smallest sized supers.  These are considerably lighter in weight,
but you will need more of them.

does everybody putall their hive parts together themselves and insert the
foundationI put virtually nothing together because I have limited time
available.  I use mostly Pierco all-plastic, one-piece frames which require
no assembly.  I just insert frames to make up a deep body or super.

I hope this information is helpful.

Wade
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