On Thu, 27 Jul 1995 Bill Miller <[log in to unmask]> started a
    interesting discussion about box sizes
 
Interesting answers too but for we continentals there is a lack of sizes:
Ok I guess ...
   Jumbo=~ 31 cm deep with 12 frames?
   Deep =~ 31 cm deep with 10 frames?     = Dadant brood frame
   Standard =~ 24 cm deep with 10 frames? = Langstroth unique frame
   6 5/8 = clear
   Shallow =~ 10 cm deep with 10 frames ?  It's right ? Itsn't ?
 
 
I'm using 2 kind of hives with different uses (I only have Buckfast
bees since 1980, brown between 1953 to '80)
 
Honey production hive : It's what we name a "Dadant 12 frames hive"
Today I have 13 such living hives.
 
composition ...
        one bottom board with 8 cm spacing behind some laths
        one brood box (interior) 45x45x31 cm with 12 frames
        one queen excluder
        one to four 6 5/8 supers with 11 frames
 
Why ?  The brood box is quite convenient to the 10-12 brood frames of
a buckfast queen.  During the spring and summer time : at least one
super must always be in place : when reaping, you must install an
empty super.  In the winter : this brood box is quite convenient for
a 20-25 kg of feeding and an adapted unique brood nest.
 
The bottom board is an expander place to the bees, mainly the foragers.
Only problem : be careful to catch the queen (not too smoke). And
do you must catch the queen from a production hive during the season?
 
The supers are ... total full load : 30-31 kg  (too) much for my back !
But the shallows are too small for a buckfast bee and a medium crop :
1-2 super/week when the honey is flowing !
 
   =======
 
Queen production hives : It's what we name a "WBC 10 frames hive"
Today I have 34 such living hives.
 
WBC because the frame is "about" the British Standard Frame and
the box is about the W. Broughton Carr box.  In fact, this box
has the inner sizes of the WBC hive 37.5x37.5 cm and the height of
the standard Langstroth box (23.8 cm).
 
I use one box for one queen (from 4 to 10 frames)
 
  =====
 
Formerly, I used only the last boxes for both the use (honey and queen).
Honey production brood on 2 boxes and the supers at the top (the volume
of this box is quite the same as the super volume) : 2 problems ...
 
When you have 4 supers (of 25-30 kg) on 2 boxes, you must have a ladder
to manipulate them.
 
More important : the spring development is clearly slower in the 2
boxes than in the one box brood chamber.  The reason is not clear and
some hypothesis are allowed.  Seems it's difficult to the queen to go
down (her heavy abdomen is troubling her when passing the hole between
the 2 boxes) and not when she is going up.  She remains thus in the
upper box.  The result is a beautiful half ball brood.  The problem
diminishes with the bees increasing number and the wax bridges between
the 2 boxes.  This problem is not encountered in a jumbo box with enough
super : the queen never is lacking of laying place.
 
More important yet ! Don't use old comb and/or brood chambers comb to
collect the honey : actually they are contaminated with fluvalinate,
the apistan active product.  I have some references speaking about
fluvalinate (photo)degradation products in the honey (J. Chromatogr.
655 (1993) 95-99 and J. Agric. Food Chem. 32 (1984) 1134-1138).  Thus
the frames don't can(must) pass from brood to super and inversely.
 
I use thus a system which each frame has an only use : brood chamber
for production queens, super frames for the honey (I always use rod
queen excluder) and brood chamber for reserve queens.
 
Hope this helps !
 
Jean-Marie  <[log in to unmask]>