It was said ">Briefly, a member wrote querying the demise of
>the deep Dadant comb"

Someone once told me that the Modified Dadant or Jumbo hive was the best
ever designed for bees, but not for beekeepers!  Fortunately, the reports of
its demise are premature.

Thousands of these things are still in use in the United States, primarily
in the mid-west.  While not listed in their catalog, Dadant still makes
several types of the deep foundation that is necessary.  As these jumbos are
primarily or solely used by beekeepers who "know what they are doing", they
are able to make hive covers and bottom boards with little difficulty.
Many, if not all, use the Jumbo as a brood nest and never move or reverse
it.  When they want to use Langsforth equipment, such as supers, excluders,
pollen traps, etc. they just put a board over two of the frames on one side
and put the Langsforth equipment on top.  Any rain getting in between the
board and the other equipment doesn't harm the bees or the brood.

Overseas, the Jumbo size is still used as standard and one can readily buy
new equipment.  In France, the Jumbo is the de facto standard.  Again,
beekeepers do not reverse hive bodies.  In Turkey, Greece, and parts of
Africa and South America it is also more common than Langsforth.

I started with Jumbos, not out of choice but because that is what a
beekeeper sold me when I was starting out.  For 20 years it was all I used,
then I changed to Langsforth.  Unfortunately, when I changed it was to
deeps, and now I know I should have changed to mediums.

Lloyd
Lloyd Spear, Owner, Ross Rounds, Inc.  The finest in comb honey production.
www.rossrounds.com