I guess a couple of strong young men could count as a mechanical lifting device!
What a way to spend a day...
 
I have worked for semi-commercial beekeepers in this area (200-400
colonies), who were using mediums.  I was usually the one "carrying" and
loading the flat-bed with the full supers, while the next ones were being
blown out.  On a hot July or August day those medium supers can wear you
out too, especially when you are jumping on and off the truck every so
often.  I don't think I'd have survived with deeps!  (Lately I'm victim of
a sedentary lifestyle, I admit.)
 
Allen - if you don't wait til the supers are all full, do you have
difficulty with high moisture content?  Or does it average out OK, given
the nectar sources and weather?
I wonder,too if you are up in the Peace River area, where the crops are
still on the large side.  Do they grow lots of legumes/alfalfa up in your
neck of the woods, or do you rely on things like Canola?  Any fireweed?
 
I know with the Canola you can't leave the crop on til things are all
filled and finished, as it granulates solid in no time.  Perhaps this is
part of the reason for harvesting early. I had a yard NW of here where some
farmers were putting in big fields of Canola.  It bloomed in late May or
early June, and was a delight to behold.  It was blazing yellow across the
fields.  The bees in that yard collected the Canola nectar, and lots of it.
Some colonies had three supers Ÿull within a çøuple of weeks.  Later when
I harvested mid-summer, I was dismayed to find that the canola honey was
solid like a white brick in the combs.  There was no useful way of getting
it out. It took a couple of seasons to work the granulated honey out by
giving bees access to the combs (during spring or dearth).  (Unfortunately
the wintering success was miserable and I no longer have bees up there.)  I
guess Cornell or cooperative extension was encouraging experimentation with
canola in NY for a spell.  There was at least one agronomy professor who
wrote some brochures on Canola cultivation and use as a trial crop in the
state.
 
Thanks again,
 
Later... JWG