Hello Waldemar,

My hives are in 4 deep boxes now but will be reduced to 3 deeps for
winter. I previously overwintered my hives in 2 deeps, a practise carried
over from my commercial experience. However, I don't migrate and have
found that the bees overwinter better in 3 rather than 2, similar to the
studies noted in the Hive and Honeybee in the chapters on overwintering.

Also the extra feed insures an adequate food supply during late winter
through early summer. Often the weather here is very unsettled and a
strong hive can easily starve or destroy brood during the bad spells. A
slower developing hive will often have extra frames of honey which can be
easily used for splits, etc. Pollen is often preserved under the capped
honey and can be more important than the honey itself.

Overall I probably could extract more, but most who run only 2 deeps here
end up feeding syrup at a very critical time around the first of June.

I haven't noticed any decrease in my hives production. I think larger
colonies are produced earlier which  produce more honey and offset the
additional stores left behind. Also the bees don't have to be disturbed
during our cold, windy springs.

Also, I have been infected with a bad almost incurable disease from my
commercial beekeeping days. It seems I am always adding hives or
equipment or expanding.  Anyway my wife has been giving me some nasty
looks lately while trying to get out of her car and around my bee
equipment in the garage. An extra box on the hives helps in that
situation. :>)

Dennis