the "perfect" 10 frame deep

[tedh]

Hi Everybody,
We are planning on pulling a few brood frames (1 or 2 frames) from each hive (10 hives) along with reversing boxes and adding supers early in hopes of minimizing potential swarms.  We've decided to move these pulled frames directly into 10 frame deeps, skipping the nuc stage, to cut down on the number of queens we will purchase and also help us with feeding in that we'll feed a couple of colonies rather than several.  The question we have is:  Should these newly made up 10 frame deeps consist of say 6 frames of brood and 4 frames of stores (honey/pollen), or maybe 7:3 (brood/stores) or maybe 8:2 (brood/stores)?  What, in your opinion would be the "perfect" 10 frame deep?   For a little added info, we hope to start this process at the end of April/beginning of May (depending on availability of queens) and our dandelion flow should start sometime in May followed by clover in June.  Thanks for your thoughts and input.  Ted

[Lburou]

I like your plan.  When putting small colonies into large hive bodies, you can use dummy frames (also called dummy boards) to temporarily take up unused space until the bees need more room. 

Make different sized dummy boards to use as the  population grows.  I have some that are two and some three frames wide, it makes it easy to take up space in a large new hive body.  You can learn about dummy frames Here and Here.

The ideal young hive would have enough bees to defend itself from robbing, some capped honey (one or two frames should do it in a honey flow), empty comb(s) for bee bread and for the the queen to lay, and a frame(s) of capped brood emerging.  Something like that anyway.  HTH

[tedh]

Thanks Lburou!  So maybe, 2 frames of stores, 2 empty frames of drawn wax, and 6 frames of mixed brood, eggs, larva and capped?  Install new queen, smallest opening on entrance reducer, as soon as queen is released and laying add second deep containing mostly drawn wax.  Adding the second deep may need to be put off for a while depending on colony population.  Am I close to the mark?  Thanks, Ted

[Lburou]

This is one of those bee questions where there are a lot of answers, none necessarily wrong.

I think you are on a good  track Ted.  Your stated recipe should produce a strong hive pretty fast during a honey flow.  You might get by with half the amounts in your recipe, it would just take longer to grow into a mature hive.  I wouldn't add the second super until bees covered 7 or 8 frames.  At my location, I'd use one of Iddee's robbing screens too.   

[tedh]

Thanks Lburou, I appreciate it.  We'll keep a close eye on them and the robbing screens on or next to the hives.  Ted

[LazyBkpr]

I have always heard them referred to as follower boards. Make it just like a frame, but taller and deeper so it seals at the top and bottom rahter than leaving the space for bees to travel through.   You can start a ten frame jut like a  nuc with four five or six frames, and as they get going slide it over and add another frame or two.
  "With mediums I don't usually worry too much about a follower board if there is a good flow. I put two frames of brood/bees and a frame of capped brood and a frame of honey/pollen. Shake in some extra bees from a frame of pen brood and let them have at it.
   I started over 40 hives the first part of July that way last year, they took off very well, but... unfortunately it quit raining about a week later. I fed over a grand in syrup, but they still did not build up well. I combined quite  few of them to try to get them through winter on sugar.   I have learned one important thing for sure. When they are flying often, they cant make it on sugar alone. When its cold and they are clustered, they seem to do very well on sugar. Unfortunately, this winter they were flying at least once a week every month except December.
   have to do better this year and get them split sooner. just in case it decides not to rain again the latter part of the summer.