We have converted to all meds.
 
Benefits: 1)Drastically cuts labor time in making splits--no frame
handling, no extra boxes and equip. hauled to the field to make splits.
2)Brood boxes become honey supers--same logic used in an all-deep system.
 3)Fume board moves bees out of honey supers faster than a deep--take one
box at a time and fume board is always closer to the bees. 4)Boxes are
lighter and easier to handle. 5)Less care needed in spacing as frames are
not as long and therefore do not have as much variability of space at
bottom of box.
 
Negatives: Cost is greater going in.  But cost benefit ratio is
attractive.  A little labor saved buys a lot of equipment.
 
System:  We use a two med. brood nest for honey production with an
excluder above.  When the summer honey is pulled we raise the excluder
above the third box of freshly extracted comb giving the queen plenty of
open area to lay in the fall.  In March we make three splits out of each
hive using a "yard-trashing" method and queen cells.  When the splits
attains two box stregth the excluder goes on and the hive is ready for
honey production.
 
Clint Walker III
Small Commercial Bees, Queens, Honey Operation
Central and South Texas
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