Wow! Thanks for all the friendly welcomes. I will try to address some of the questions pertaining to the 6 frame deeps.
I chose them because I wanted lighter boxes and wanted polystyrene. Two manufacturers are available in the U.S. in 6 frame nuc configuration so that is what I went with. Eight frame isn't available in polystyrene here as far as I can tell and I didn't want to go mediums. This winter I overwintered in three boxes. I had unlimited brood nests last year but this year plan to use queen excluders over two boxes. My overwintering wasn't great but don't think it had anything to do with the boxes. I attribute the losses to a combination of mites, skunks, and small splits started late without the right resources. I don't want to ramble on too much but will be happy to answer any questions about the hives I am using.