What’s a super, a medium, and a deep? What are the pros and cons of each size?
Source: Dengarden
Beekeepers have many decisions to make when starting out, and one of the most significant is the size boxes to use for hive bodies and supers. The nomenclature within this component of beekeeping can get confusing because there are many ways to refer to different hive boxes. The boxes can be “hive bodies” or “supers,” depending on what they are used for. The hive bodies can also be called “brood chambers” because this is where the queen lays her eggs and the brood are raised. The three depths of boxes are:
- Deep (9-⅝ in)
- Medium (6-⅝ in)
- Shallow (5-¾ in)
A common configuration of hives is made using deep boxes for the brood chambers and the medium or shallow boxes for the honey supers, however many beekeepers now prefer all medium boxes.
Deeps
Source: Bee Health Extension
The deep Langstroth hive is the most conventional hive and dates back to 1852 when it was patented by L.L. Langstroth. Langstroth designed the deep box for optimal size of brood nest, honey, and pollen. Traditionally, two deeps were the only boxes used, and this was known as the double deep configuration. The hive opens from the top and holds ten moveable frames. The movable frames of honeycomb make it easy for beekeepers to manage and harvest honey without destroying the colony’s structure. The names “hive body” and “brood box” are also used to refer to deeps because they are generally where the bees build their combs for the primary purpose of raising their brood.
The biggest advantage of the deep hive is that the queen can lay eggs more easily and efficiently on deep frames since she has access to a bigger area of available comb compared to medium and shallow boxes. In addition, deep boxes have a greater volume, meaning less of them are needed to function the same as smaller boxes, which means less expenses.
The main disadvantage is that a deep hive can weigh upwards of 80 pounds when filled with honey, and this is what discourages a lot of beekeepers these days from using deeps.
Supers
Super is short for superstructure, which refers to the boxes added to a beehive for the bees to store honey. In the past, a super was always a medium or shallow box, but now it can refer to any box that is added to a hive, hence its name which means “above” in Latin.
During a nectar flow, honey supers are placed on top of the brood chamber for honey storage, and they are removed once the honey is harvested. Making use of supers in addition to deeps or mediums makes it easier for beekeepers to differentiate which boxes are used for brood raising and which are used for honey storage.
Mediums
A couple of decades ago the Dadant Company in western Illinois created a box size in between the deep and shallow, and since then medium hives have become more commonly used amongst beekeepers. Medium hives can replace both deep and shallow hives, and the idea was that it would be less complicated for beginner beekeepers to configure their hive setup. There is reduced stress and time in determining if each box will line up and work together since they are all the same size.
Beekeepers noticed that bees used mediums almost or just as well as deeps for raising brood, and more and more beekeepers began to use mediums because each full box weighs up to 60 lbs at most compared to the 80-pound deeps. An advantage of using all mediums is that the frames are interchangeable making the hive easier to manage. Almost all commercial honey developers exclusively use mediums for honey supers.
Shallows
The main purpose of shallows is to be used as honey supers. They are lighter than mediums and deeps, usually weighing about 30-40 lbs when filled with honey. Shallows can be easily placed down during a nectar flow for bees to offload surplus honey and can be removed afterwards and harvested. Usually around four shallows are needed for honey supers. There is no reason that beekeepers can’t use shallow boxes for brood chambers, it is just uncommon.
What size boxes should you use?
Hive boxes are hive boxes, and bees don’t care what size they are. Bees store resources based on the box’s location in a hive, not it’s size. They store honey at the top, brood in the center, and pollen at the bottom. It is similar for horizontal hives as well, but pollen at the front and honey at the back. Therefore, beekeepers shouldn’t worry about if they have the right size box, but they should use what works for them and their bees.