# A day late and a dollar short....



## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Welcome to BeeSource!
1. If you go all mediums, you can swap frames around from box to box within the same hive and between hives. If you need a frame of honey, it will fit anywhere. If you need a frame of brood, it will go into any hive, any box. Mediums are lighter when full of honey so they are easier on the back. The only down side is you have to buy/make more equipment for mediums to give you the same volume as deeps.
2. Wax coated is easier to install and uses a different frame from wax. Grooved top and bottom, pop the plastic in and you're done. With wax, you should wire the foundation to keep it from sagging in hot weather. You use wedge top frames, remove the wedge, put foundation in, nail wedge over wire hooks. I usually wire the frames before adding the foundation. I prefer wax because my bees seem to prefer it over plastic. In a good flow the bees will draw both.
You'll get 10 answers from 10 different beekeepers on those two questions. Check out Michael Bush's web site for more info on using mediums and a lot more free info. Good luck and start with two hives and a nucleus hive so you have resources to fix issues that WILL arise during your first year.


----------



## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

deleted, duplicate post


----------



## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

If your beesource handle is any indication of your age (mid 40's), I'd highly recommend you consider the mediums and even 8 frame mediums. Once you start beekeeping, I bet you will be in it for years and there is nothing more frustrating that needing to look in your 10 hives and saying "I can't do all that lifting today". Your equipment, if well cared for, will outlast you as long as you don't give yourself a bad back.


----------



## bbruff22 (Dec 24, 2013)

Welcome from up the road! I'd do plastic foundation to get started, if it were me. Once you know more, you can do whatever you like there. As far as box size, I do what most folks in my area do, which is deeps for brood and mediums for honey, but mediums are easy on the back. My next hives will likely be mediums. Good luck to you!


----------



## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

I use mediums now because the deeps are just too heavy for my 60 year old back. 3 mediums equal 2 deeps. If you use 4 mediums the bees will winter better because they will have more honey going into the cold weather. Then you can split the hives evenly if you need to.

Plastic foundation is much better than it was in the 'old' days. Mann Lake has some frames and foundation already assembled that is really nice. They also sell the one piece small cell foundation/frame combo that is pretty cool, the PF 120 series. Look up small cell here for discussions and tips how to get the bees to draw it out well. 

I second Michael Bush's web site. Good stuff. 

One other thing. If you can find a local beekeeper who sells local nucs, you should seriously consider that route. Bees that are adjusted to the local conditions have a big head start over packages. A nuc will build up faster. Just my opinion from buying packages the last few years.


----------



## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome Troy!


----------



## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

Greetings.
Couple questions. On your driver's license it has your height and weight. What does it say?
Im asking t help decide an answer to the question "what size boxes should I use?".
If you're 6'6" and weigh 280, use deeps. If you're 5'1" and weight 140...you probably want mediums.

The plastic foundation is great. I was a skeptic but once I used some I was hooked. Came from way back when duragilt was top of the line and frankly, I resisted the change to solid plastic foundations.

You did great asking other beeks for help and it's true. Ask two beeks the same question and you get 3 or 4 answers.


----------



## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

Okay, I'll be the odd man out. I use all deeps. It's cheaper because you need fewer to get the same amount of space. Yes, they are a heavier but it's been YEARS since I lifted a full box. Instead I take half the frames out, move the box, replace the frames. Since I am a hobbyist, that's just no big deal to me. I use one size because then everything is interchangeable--no oops moments when you have one size box and another size frame or bottom or top. Everything fits everything. I don't think I've ever even owned a medium box and I've never missed them. If I were just starting out, I might just go all mediums, tho.

I started out back when wired foundation was the norm. But once I tried the newer foundations--! I've used plastic foundation in wooden frames for years and years now and would never go back to wiring--it's a PAIN.

HTH

Rusty


----------



## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

Here goes with the variable answers.

I am the tender age of 68. I use 2 deep brood boxes on each colony and medium supers. I will as long as I can. I very seldom have to lift a brood box. As long as it is not over my head (it never is) it is not a problem. If it becomes a problem, a few frames can be moved to the work box to lighten the load. As a sometimes sailor I appreciate a long "reach". The bees seem to like it as well.

I started with rite-cell plastic in wooden frames. I bought some hives that came with wax foundation. The bees do a much prettier job of drawing it, but those wires are really irritating. As I get more drawn comb, I am transitioning to foundation less with the empty frames between drawn ones. I am not recommending this because I haven't tried it yet.

2 helpful beekeepers is great, but insufficient. If you don't have a local bee club at least join your state group and go to the meetings. It is better to learn from someone else's experience. Order your bees now, so you can get them early for the buildup. 

Have a glass of the kool-aid.


----------



## tdrhodes70 (Sep 30, 2015)

Wow...I appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions. I have pretty much decided on going with the plastic foundation, at least for now. Still struggling with what box sizes I am going to use...I like the thoughts of having all medium equipment for simplicity and weight, but aren't most nuc's built on deep frames. If I were to buy nucs to start my hives, then the frames would not fit into my mediums...correct??


----------



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

tdrhodes70 said:


> Wow...I appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions. I have pretty much decided on going with the plastic foundation, at least for now. Still struggling with what box sizes I am going to use...I like the thoughts of having all medium equipment for simplicity and weight, but aren't most nuc's built on deep frames. If I were to buy nucs to start my hives, then the frames would not fit into my mediums...correct??


medium nucs are available if you look, if not no worries, it's not hard to throw down a homemade 3 in shim on your bottom board and set a medium on top of that you can leave it as is, or put a queen excluder over it once your queen has moved into the second box and then remove once the brood has hatched or just wait till early spring the following yr when the box is empty and remove it at that time. I mostly run 8 frame mediums, I have a couple that run 8 frame double deeps then medium supers. and I have 1 double deep 10 plus medium supers. I'm 6 ft 280lbs and 36 yrs old and that top 10 frame deep is more than what I want to handle when it's 90 deg outside. People say you can just remove half your frames and then move the box with is absolutely true. However the first time you end up with a psycho queen and have to bust a colony up in order to demoralize them and to find which box she is in so you can pinch her , you won't want to be pulling frames, you will want to move the box as quickly as possible to a different bottom board and get out. The all medium setup has draw backs too, When they get 8 boxes tall, it can be a pain getting down to the core of the brood nest. If I had to start over again I would probably use all 8 frame deeps as it's a decent compromise.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>1. I will be using 10 frame Langstroth equipment. One beekeeper suggest that I use ALL medium hive bodies. The other beekeeper suggest using a deep hive body for the brood and then medium hive bodies up above. Most of my research has shown a deep hive body for the brood, and smaller hive bodies stacked above. What do you suggest???

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#uniformframesize

>2. Crimped wire wax foundation or Wax coated plastic foundation???

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfoundationless.htm


----------

