One size fits all,

[beejazz]

As a newbee I was advised to go with nationals, and did so, and have ended up with brood and a half, but I'm attracted to the idea of one size box throughout the hive. Brood boxes as supers are out for me with my girlie muscles, so it must be smaller brood boxes. I've been reading about the stable-climate hive by Roger Delon, translated by David Heaf. I like the idea of brood expansion/clustering vertically, given the smaller box, rather than horizontally, I suspect that is what naturally the bees would do if not coming up against a Q exc. Also the idea of the bees over-wintering with 'a dome' of honey above the cluster seems to make sense rather than having their winter stores to the sides of the cluster, and risking isolation starvation.

[Mellifera Crofter]

As a newbee ... I'm attracted to the idea of one size box throughout the hive. ... so it must be smaller brood boxes. ... I like the idea of brood expansion/clustering vertically ...

I don't know if you've thought about it, Beejazz, but in case you are, don't be tempted to use MB all-medium one-size Langstroth boxes. They're still wide, so you won't be able to successfully help the bees to create that vertical cluster shape. Use 8-frame Nationals like Ian Craig as Drone Ranger mentioned in post 9, or get a Warré like Chris (I don't yet have any experience of Warré hives - so can't advise).
Kitta

[Mellifera Crofter]

As a newbee I was advised to go with nationals, and did so, and have ended up with brood and a half ...

About brood and a half - it keeps happening to me as well, but I recently read an article somewhere of somebody who uses brood and a half as his preferred option. What he does is to keep them on brood and a half over winter and then towards May add a queen excluder underneath the super to allow the brood to hatch and the frames to fill with honey. He adds his honey frames above that original brood super. Towards the end of the season he harvests the honey supers, remove the queen excluder, and leaves the original brood super, now filled with honey, for the bees as winter food.

If I get a hive with brood and a half again, it won't bother me any more. I certainly won't try and correct the situation again by moving super frames into the brood box - that is a nightmare.

Kitta

PS: but take care of the drones ...

[beejazz]

About brood and a half - it keeps happening to me as well, but I recently read an article somewhere of somebody who uses brood and a half as his preferred option. What he does is to keep them on brood and a half over winter and then towards May add a queen excluder underneath the super to allow the brood to hatch and the frames to fill with honey. He adds his honey frames above that original brood super. Towards the end of the season he harvests the honey supers, remove the queen excluder, and leaves the original brood super, now filled with honey, for the bees as winter food.

If I get a hive with brood and a half again, it won't bother me any more. I certainly won't try and correct the situation again by moving super frames into the brood box - that is a nightmare.

Kitta

PS: but take care of the drones ...

Thanks for the link, so much to read! I have gotten used to brood and a half now, but I have a tendency to somehow mix up the brood supers, usually when AS. I will have to get some coloured chalk and mark the boxes. About putting the Q exc on around May, that effectively returns the hive to a single brood, just when my supposedly prolific bees are getting going!
I have been toying with the idea of keeping bees without a Q exc, and think it would be easier if the boxes were all one size.
I am very kind to drones, the silly things, especially when demareeing, I lift up the crownboard every couple of days in the afternoon to let them out, what a noise they make!

[Mellifera Crofter]

... I have been toying with the idea of keeping bees without a Q exc, and think it would be easier if the boxes were all one size.
I am very kind to drones, ... I lift up the crownboard every couple of days in the afternoon to let them out, what a noise they make!

Yes, I don't like queen excluders either. I've watched even the workers struggling to get through. I have three Langstroth medium hives (that I'm trying to get rid of - as I said earlier, I think they're too wide), but being one size, they are easier to manage without queen excluders. If the queen has used a frame or two in a box too high, I can see if I can move those frames down so that she has a box of honey above her head.

Sometimes queen excluders are necessary. I'm now going to make plywood queen excluders as described by David Cushman. I thought they might also allow the drones a way out (well, I hope they're clever enough to find the holes around the edges).

Kitta