> But keeping two deeps and swapping them is just not feasible or >
realistic for me.  Can't hardly carry a super with honey in it.
*****************
>   Let's hear why bees cannot be kept in shallow, extracting supers; the
>   whole hive would be in shallows.


Let me see if I can think this one out. I know it should be possible. Bees
do fine in hollow logs etc so we are just trying to make things work best
for us and the bees with our boxes.

To start we need to trade two deeps for shallows. Basic size would give us
two shallows for each deep. But we now have more "top bars" and "bottom
bars" due to the fact that we have doubled the number of frames as well. To
come up even we may need to add a fifth shallow. That is a lot of work to
keep this all in good shape and to inspect.

Second issue could be the brood patterns. The bees have a natural shape they
like. Deeps work for this pattern and mediums seem to be acceptable. I am
not sure if shallows would work as well. Since the bees seem to break up the
comb into brood, pollen, honey areas the larger number of frames could mean
less actual area for egg laying. Also when things get cool the larger number
of areas could make it harder for the bees to keep the brood warm.

Just some thoughts.