Some Russian beehives...

[shemer]

[kathyp]

do you put all your honey supers on at the same time, or do you pull them and add more as they fill?  i pull mine as they fill, but mine are close to my house so it is convenient. 

[David LaFerney]

I like the metal corner brackets - that's a good strong alternative to finger joints or other complex wood work.  How long do the plywood boxes last?

[shemer]

do you put all your honey supers on at the same time, or do you pull them and add more as they fill?  i pull mine as they fill, but mine are close to my house so it is convenient. 

this is my first year at beekeeping so I may be wrong... but as I see that colony is getting stronger I immediately erect either honey supers or another brood cubicle despite that frames they already had only partially filled... so I guess I put them all on at the same time to avoid extraordinary  inspections of the hive... (usually I check colony`s condition once a month).

[shemer]

I like the metal corner brackets - that's a good strong alternative to finger joints or other complex wood work.  How long do the plywood boxes last?

I don`t know if that`s an alternative or not... I guess finger joints work very well, too. In this hives there is a second wall with polyfoam in between which makes deep hives body less heavier and much warmer in winter (and I hope cooler in summer)... I don`t know how long it`ll last as this was made by me out of emergency because old hives with which I had bought with my colonies was (a) very old and (b) not spacious enough to raise a strong family... Do you know what Dadant is? That`s what I had initially - four deephive bodied Dadants... Now when I did upgrade them to whatever they are I don`t know how to classify my hives.