Am back from another week on the road.  This has been and continues to be a great series of posts.  So much info, so many websites, so many pics!  As is typical with any activity with so many variables, but particularly with beekeeping, the comments/suggestions/solutions were not definitive.  Rather than respond to individual posts (and unintentionally miss a few), I’ll try to briefly summarize the feedback:

•	10 frames good – 10 frames bad
•	9 frames good – 9 frames bad
•	8 frames good – 8 frames bad
•	3 deeps good – 3 deeps bad
•	2 deeps good – 2 deeps bad
•	All deeps good – all deeps bad
•	All mediums good – all mediums bad
•	Horizontal hives good – horizontal hives bad
•	Horizontal hives with modification xxx good – horizontal hives with modification xxx bad

Not trying to be dismissive of any of the input (I read every post and followed every link).  Just making a poor attempt at humor, which really underlies a more basic concept, and that is: Different beekeeping techniques work better (or worse) in different places and better (or worse) for different beekeepers.  Again, nothing new there, but it is a fact of which it is easy to lose sight, when searching for a solution to a specific problem.  And the reason for success or failure can be the result of quite a few things, a few of which are:

•	Climate (e.g. Mediterranean vs. sub-Arctic)
•	Geography (e.g. sub-tropical vs. desert)
•	Season
•	Unique events at the time something ‘new’ is tried (e.g. flooding, drought, late frost, early winter, no main bloom, etc.)
•	The style of the beekeeper (hands on vs. hands off, gentle vs. rough, etc.)
•	The knowledge and/or skill of the beekeeper (years of beekeeping, scale of beekeeping, etc.)
•	The subtle ‘tricks of the trade’ that may be employed by a beekeeper and of which the instructing beekeeper may not even be aware, which can make a technique work for them but not for others (‘Oh, I forgot to mention, you have to do THIS first, or else the bees will all come out at once and sting you to death.’).
•	The bees (race, health, age, mood, queenrightness, etc.)
•	Dumb luck (‘I take crystallized pregnant pig urine, spread it on the top bars of my hives, and my bees do great.’)
•	Other (fill in the blank)

This could probably be a new post of its own, but I just wanted to summarize what I read and learned from everyone.  So, for me, for next year, I am considering the following experimental set-up:

2 hives – 2 deeps and 10 frames
2 hives – 3 deeps and 10 frames
2 hives – 3 deeps and 8 frames
2 hives – 4 mediums and 10 frames
2 hives – 3 mediums and 10 frames
1 horizontal hive using standard Langstroth deep frames
1 horizontal hive using only starter top bars

I realize this is not going to give me statistically significant results on the survivability of my bees in my region using any one of these methods.  BUT, it should tell me 1) which ones are easiest on my back, and 2) which ones work from a time and work perspective.  Then, the following year I can focus on the methods that show the most promise.  This, of course, assumes I have the time (and skill) to create the horizontal hives over the winter.

There is one thing I have started doing this summer, which I have mentioned in some of the private correspondence I have had, and which I would like to offer here.  It is probably obvious, but I’ll mention it anyway, in case it helps one other person with back and/or physical strength/ability issues.  Now, when I go to work a hive, rather than just prop the frame(s) I remove up against the hive, I set up an empty deep alongside it and move thef frames into it.  This has the following advantages (at least for me)

1) keeps the frames off the ground – no grass, leaves, hitchhikers,
2) keeps me from kicking that propped up  frame by accident,
3) lets me move two (or more) frames rather than one, which makes more space for manipulation,
4) seems to disturb the bees less because their frame alignment is correct and they are back in a box,
5) makes it easy to work down the hive (just move all 10 frames into the ‘work box’, remove the empty hive box, then start on the next box, transferring frames to the now-empty box), and, finally
6) if it looks like I need to move the box on the hive, I just transfer half the frames to the ‘work box’ first, move BOTH boxes and then reassemble the frames at the new location.  A little more work, but easy peasy on the back.

That’s why I am considering continuing to use 10-frame deeps next year.  By moving frames in stages, regardless of whether it is basic hive examination/maintenance or moving boxes around (e.g. splits), this method seems to save my back.  Again, it may be obvious to many, but I was taught a certain way (‘Remove one frame, prop it up against the side of the hive, pull one frame, do your thing, slide each frame over one at a time, reverse when finished.’), and never thought otherwise.  Then, I had one of those ‘Aha’ moments.

Sorry for the long post, but I got so much great input, that I wanted to try to summarize and give a little back to the group.  A HUGE thank you to everyone, who provided (and continue to provide) advice (both about beekeeping and about my back).

Bill

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