At 12:00 AM 4/20/00 -0400, you wrote: >I've only kept bees for five years so don't know anything about >Jumbo Dadant Hives. Reading about them they seem like they would be easier >to work and most beekeepers would only need one box for a brood chamber. >Brother Adam used these at Buckfast Abbey. > Why did they get discontinued? Since no one responded to your question, I will. The frames were too big. A regular sized frame can hold 5 or 6 pounds of honey and if it is not well built, it will break. The bottom bar may pull off or the ears of the frames may snap. This is especially a problem if the frames are old. I have no idea how working the jumbo hives would be, but I imagine the frames would be very awkward to remove. Most people would rather have a smaller frame than a larger one. The ideal hive is made of all deep supers. But for the sake of one's back, a shallower super for honey is a very good idea. Also, if one uses deeps for brood and shallows for honey (over an excluder), the chance of moving apistan contaminated combs and honey around is significantly reduced. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Peter Borst [log in to unmask] http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/plb6/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -