>        Food for though and comments.  How about 8 frame deeps
>
>Dan
>
>
>Daniel D. Dempsey
>P. O. Box #5
>Red Bluff, CA 96080-0005
>U.S.A.
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The 8-frame size was very popular and common for many years, mainly early
part of this century.  Some folks still swear by them.  I have a few
knocking around but I just use them for nuclei in the spring.  It is
without question a very convenient size/weight for lifting and carrying.
Some U.S. commercial operations still use them instead of the "standard"
10-fr size.  (In the classifieds of the bee magazines you can sometimes
still find lots of the 8-fr equip't for sale from established operations
that are selling out.)
 
The main drawback has been that the hives are more likely to tip over if
stacked up high with 8-fr boxes; 10-fr size is more stable.  But the crops
nowadays are not what they were in the 30's/40's! So the hives shouldn't
need to be stacked so high.  I think two 8-fr deep brood chambers would
make quite a decent sized brood nest, with the possible advantage that more
of the winter food would be situated above the cluster as opposed to
further out on the hive edges (often a problem with 10-fr size).  Anyone
here using 8-fr to advantage?
 
Sid's "half-Dadant" hive sounds like an interesting idea as well.  The bees
should be happy as the colony expansion would be mainly vertical in the 5
or 8- -frame equipment. That could speed up comb construction and colony
development a bit too.                                   bzzzzzzzzzzzzing!
YOW!