# All 6 5/8 equipment



## bennybee (Jul 10, 2008)

I run about 30- 40 hives. I had rotator cuff surgery on oct 2 and am having the other one done tues 29. I have been running dbl deeps all of my life. I live in northern IL. I read your threads about using all 6 5/8 equipment and listening to you guys and gals it sounds really great as far as moving honey, brood, pollen around. I talked to a commercial beek and he said I might have trouble getting a good brood nest. They don't have any problems putting brood in my honey supers. I'm also not getting any younger so less weight would be great.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I went from double deeps to all mediums and then from all mediums to all eight frame mediums. The queen typically is laying in three to four of the boxes and the brood nest is plenty large. The advantages go beyond weight. I can do splits by the box when I have four eight frame medium boxes full of bees, just by putting down two bottoms and dealing the boxes. There is bound to be brood in three of them. They winter better because the cluster almost always spans the gap between the boxes and they can move between combs better, and because in an eight frame box they leave less food behind because the box fits the cluster better.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeswinter.htm#boxes
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#lighterboxes

I cut down all my equipment:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeseightframemedium.htm


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## Brenda (Nov 23, 2006)

I'm still kind of new, but I use all mediums and it seems like I have good brood patterns. 
I'm thinking of using 3 mediums for brood and using shallows on top for honey. I can't lift a medium of honey. I have to remove some frames, and sometimes that sucks when I'm just checking to see how they're doing.


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## bennybee (Jul 10, 2008)

thanks, that was the answer I was looking for


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

bennybee,

Please read this link. 

http://www.beesource.com/point-of-view/walt-wright/objections-to-the-double-deep/

In the article, Walt Wright discusses an alternative which is a single deep topped by shallows. He makes a good point of discussion regarding the brood colony and honey stores. You may find it quite interesting.


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## belt152 (Feb 21, 2008)

I followed the link and read the article. One thing I'm unsure of, Is Walt reversing the Deep and Shallow brood box(es) in the Spring? Or, is the Deep always on the bottom with the shallow used as brood and then backfilled with honey?





Ravenseye said:


> bennybee,
> 
> Please read this link.
> 
> ...


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I don't believe he is reversing since Walt checkerboards (see other threads). Here's a quote:



> *Spring*
> Swarm prevention is simplified. The two shallows of reserve honey overhead provide more flexibility for opening up the overhead honey reserve to prevent swarming.
> Colony build up does not seem to be impeded by shallows overhead. The colony is driven by the urge to reproduce. In my area, they often achieve the equivalent of three deeps of brood (1 deep and 4 shallows.) During the “main flow”, the brood nest recedes down through the shallows by backfilling toward the basic deep. In contrast the DD seldom has more brood than 1 ½ deeps. Checkerboarding encourages more brood, bees, and honey.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I'm thinking of using 3 mediums for brood and using shallows on top for honey. I can't lift a medium of honey.

Me neither. Which is why I went to eight frame mediums...

I still think all the same size frame is important.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#uniformframesize


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## NeilV (Nov 18, 2006)

I have one of my hives in all mediums, and I don't think it affects the size of the brood area, brood or honey production adversely at all.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

I'm all mediums and always have been.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Medium supers, deep supers, shallow supers, 8-frame, 10-frame, 12-frame, or various combinations of the equipment mentioned in this list and other equipment too, can make a difference to the bees, but usually doesn't. But it can, and often does make a much larger difference to the beekeeper, than it ever will to the bees. I've used all 6-5/8" deep supers for the majority of my forty plus years of beekeeping and for the past five or six years, all 8-frame 6-5/8" deep supers. I went 8-frame after reading what Michael Bush has to say about his own conversion to 8-frame supers.

Just as a novelty I keep two colonies using deep supers: one is a twenty-two frame horizontal hive, the other is a single 10-frame deep super with medium 10-frame supers used above it. The only obvious thing I notice about them is how heavy deep frames can be when compared to medium depth frames.


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Sounds like a convenience for the beek and efficiency for the bees. Must be more mediums stacked taller. How tall do they get or can get ?


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

SwedeBee1970 said:


> How tall do they get or can get


http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232494

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/honeyman46408/Ralphshives.jpg?t=1262010195


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

That's nice ! I like the small steps on front so one can climb & clean out the gutters....


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## Brenda (Nov 23, 2006)

I keep my honey pretty much harvested off so I have 6 or less supers on at a time, including the brood boxes. The whole point was to make it easier to handle, so for me taller is not better.


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## jesuslives31548 (May 10, 2008)

I run all 6 5/8 boxes, works for me well in the deep south. It has been easier having all the same size box. When I starting getting over 50 hives it was really nice. One draw back is the price per hive figures agains the price of two standard boxes. Its not alot but can add up. I dont run queen excluders and simple make splits off brood frames in the honey super area. But Im running low on equipment and need 200-300 more boxes. I have several picture if you want to see of yards set up with all 8 frame 6 5/8 boxes.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Yes, pictures - jesuslives31548, I'd love to see pictures of that kind of setup.


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## BigDru (Aug 4, 2009)

I currently run 8 frame hives. I have switched to 8 frame deeps for the hive bodies and mediums for honey. Seems to be working good for me.


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## iwombat (Feb 3, 2009)

I do one deep on the bottom and the rest mediums (2 more for brood). I never have to lift the bottom deep. And, having the one big box saves some time inspecting. Plus, I can buy/sell nucs which typically have deep frames. At least around here.


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## Marc (May 20, 2005)

Iwombat, do you typically reverse brood boxes in spring? I like your set-up, especially since you seem to keep the deep always at the bottom position.


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## Marc (May 20, 2005)

Joseph, when you say you went to 8 frames, do you mean you use the standard size medium, except you only give them 8 frames per box? Or did you actually get a smaller size box to fit the 8 frames that is different dimensions from the standard size mediums? Do I make sense?

And if you use a standard size medium, do you just keep the frames tightly together in the center with larger spaces on the sides, or do you space the 8 frames equally in the box?


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## iwombat (Feb 3, 2009)

Marc, I don't do any reversing. I never found it to be of much benefit anyway.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

I do still have a few 10-frame mediums, but have gone to using 8-frame medium supers, 13-3/4" outside width, 12-1/4" inside width. I cut my end bars down to 1-1/4" width, so I can fit nine frames in this size super.


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## Marc (May 20, 2005)

Thank you for your answers, Joseph and Iwombat.

Iwombat, given that you are not reversing, can I ask whether you super your hives early, or do you wait for the bees to start filling the lower brood boxes with brood before adding more space? Do you use queen excluders? I know our climates are different, but I am curious how your bees respond to you not reversing and when you see the right time to super. Can I also ask what you do in regards to swarming? 

I like this forum, so many great ideas and many different ways of keeping bees to think about...


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## iwombat (Feb 3, 2009)

I start supering when the top box gets about 80%. Generally, they start backfilling the bottom box before this ever happens anyway. As soon as the queen starts laying in the bottom they start storing food nearby. If you want more info on this do some research on warre hives. There, the standard mode of expansion is to add room on the bottom.

I don't use any excluders. And I've been pretty aggressive about making nucs when things start looking a little crowded. I had no swarms last year. However, last year seemed to be the anti-swarm year around here.

I should caveat that I don't use excluders as part of a normal hive set up. I do use them when re-queening, or doing splits w/ full boxes (which I rarely do).


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## bennybee (Jul 10, 2008)

Ravenseye said:


> I don't believe he is reversing since Walt checkerboards (see other threads). Here's a quote:


I have always reversed in early spring and right before I put honey supers on so queens start out in the bottom and not brood up into the honey supers. Well I guess there are(different strokes for different folks) I guess I will experiment and decide what works best for me. I don't mind experimenting if itdoesn't cost to much honey. Thanks for your replies.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

I typically set up my hives to go into the winter with one deep and one medium. I like the idea of going all mediums based on the weight issue. I just have a hard time justifying cutting down perfectly good deeps and frames, which I seldom lift anyway. I also think more people want deep Nuc's vs medium. I guess when necessity mandates cutting down the deeps, I'll do it, reluctantly. I also have many shallows with frames and I don't know how to stretch them economically to make them mediums .


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## Eyeshooter (Mar 8, 2008)

Happy New Year, BennyBee.

Having had my left rotator cuff done 3 years ago, you have my deepest sympathies! I do medical video production and this is truly one of the most painful operations/recoveries there is. By now you've had both done. I hope it went well and wish you a speedy recovery. Hope you have a comfortable chair for sleeping the next month!

I'm taking all of my hives to mediums this year. I haven't decided whether to go 8 frame as Michael has but to have one size box for everything sure does make sense. As I'm already in my 50's and will need my other shoulder done soon, I probably will go 8 frame and not ever again have to switch.

Again, happy healing!

John


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>How tall do they get or can get ?

As tall as you can reach. I do put mine up against each other which stabilizes the 8 frame a bit better...


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## bennybee (Jul 10, 2008)

I never thought of the nuc side of this. That's a good thing to think about, Thanks


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## Bens-Bees (Sep 18, 2008)

bennybee said:


> I never thought of the nuc side of this. That's a good thing to think about, Thanks


bennybee, actually, since you can use a full-size medium in place of a 5 frame deep nuc box, it's not so much of an issue as you might think, unless the person buying the nuc doesn't use any medium equipment at all.


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