Brian,

>>We run 280 colonies and when pulling honey  there is no real good
place to leave 2 or 3 frames that might have a  hundred cells of brood
at most..

You have a nice size operation.  I'd save the frames with brood and return them on the hives with the wet, extracted supers then.  Put them over a queen excluder though.

>>We check each yard every 2 weeks and I'd rather have some occasional brood comb then no honey.

I've heard this argument.  [I've been pondering using 3 deeps - the unlimited brood nest - and queen excluders.]  I've been putting excluders on AFTER the bees start to store honey up in the supers.  I think, when it's done this way, they continue storing in the supers well after the excluders are inserted.

Waldemar
Long Island, NY

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