>
> Comment:
> When I worked at the Dyce Lab one of the prominent New York beekeepers was
> touting the single story brood nest, saying that it was right for "today's
> bees." Professor Calderone's opinion was this was an excuse for substandard
> colonies, a real colony would need more than one box for brood.
>

Truth is, if you look at all the different combinations and permutations of
hive configurations here in the cold winter world of beekeeping, you always
end up with a lower brood box and an upper honey super. It might be a two
story nuc against another two story nuc or a deep which was a single deep
with a queen excluder in the summer, but now the excluder is gone but the
honey is still on top. Same with mediums. But the issue is what Dr.
Calderone noted, which is the  quality of the colonies. What configuration
os best for bees?

You might get away with something else where the winters are mild, but not
where the food stops in September and is not seen again until late March or
early April and the temperature is freezing during the day.

I agree with Peter and Dr. Calderone's opinion of two deeps year long. A
quick check of the Hive and the Honey Bee and northern beekeeping also
confirms it it the correct approach for our long winters. It is all about
the number of bees going into the winter and adequate stores, usually sixty
pounds or more.Also, the best colonies are those which can withstand those
winters and springs! Add the vicissitudes of summer (drought), and the
easiest way to manage our bees is two deeps all year long.

As far as honey production, my colonies generally outproduce most apiaries
around me even with only two hives. I get about three times the average per
hive.

All beekeeping is local. If a single deep fit our climate, I would be
posting about single deeps in Maine. But they don't and I didn't.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html