How many Boxes?

[rwright...@gmail.com]

Added on my last boxes this past weekend. Thinking I need more boxes (or spare hives?) but I would love input on how many/what to get/ if anything could be multipurpose. 

Hive #1 has 2 8 frame deep brood boxes, 1 full deep super filled with nectar, and they are working on 1 new medium box. They are doing very well where I am hopeful to harvest honey from the deep super (likely leaving on the medium until late summer/fall) and then replace it in hopes of a second honey harvest. Intending on leaving the 2 brood boxes for winter.

Hive #2 (package) just had the second 8 frame deep added this past weekend.Not sure they will need a super later on.

 

Side note- having great difficulty with using Forums on mobile device/ only able to view.

[Jeff Steinhauer]

There was a video from Ian the Canadian Beekeeper talking about boxes where he does the math on number of eggs laid per day and the brood cycle.  The gist of the video is that two deep 10 frame boxes should be enough for a queen to rear brood.  This is his opinion as a commercial beekeeper to maximize output, whilst minimizing cost.  A hobby beekeeper may fine a different mix based upon what you're intending to do with the bees.

Madison allows up to 20 cubic feet per hive and up to six hives, this is a lot of boxes if you run the math.  Please be careful to follow your local ordinances so you don't run afoul.
"No more than six (6) hives may be located on a lot.
No hive shall exceed twenty (20) cubic feet in volume."
Obtaining a City of Madison Beekeeping License - Building Inspection & Code Enforcement - DPCED - City of Madison, Wisconsin

I hope this helps,
Jeff S.

[Carrie Williams]

I’ll put it this way, You’re going to need more equipment than you think. For example both your hives make it through the winter and start doing really well. Now you need to split yesterday before they swarm. I thought I had enough equipment last year. I used every piece of equipment I owned and it wasn’t enough. So you need enough equipment for the spring when the bees are thinking fondly of procreating.

Carrie

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "madbees" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to madbees+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/madbees/5a2c6470-a9f4-40ee-a955-41801c41b6bcn%40googlegroups.com.

[Matt]

The average beekeeper is never going to even come close to hitting the 20 cubic feet limit.   If you do the math it is equivalent to 11 10-frame deep brood boxes that would tower nearly 9 feet. 

Depending on your style (overwintering in 2 or 3 deep), with 8-frame equipment I'd plan for 2 or 3 deep plus 3 to 4 mediums.  Its also good to have an extra bottom board, top cover, and deep (with frames) around just in case you need to make a split. 

[Paul Zelenski]

The average hive is never going to have hives that big, but …. I’ve had hives bigger than that.

 

Matt’s estimates are a good idea on how strong an average hive should be. Anything stronger than that should probably be split, unless you really want to produce a ton of honey. Also, you can save space once you get to that size, but removing supers, extracting them, and putting them back.

But, always have at least an extra complete setup if you have a couple hives, and a couple complete setups if you have more. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to manage your bees properly because you don’t have the needed equipment, or to not be able to catch your own swarm because you have  nothing to put them in.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/madbees/338928f2-5680-407f-a65a-e358a8fdf549n%40googlegroups.com.