The hive is still drawing out the bottom deep, instead of installing the second deep should I install mediums and work towards the the 4 eight frame medium brood? I already have medium equipment.
I like this practice and wish that I had read about this before my package install! :roll:
I had the same realization soon after I started keeping bees, rail. A friend gave me his then-standard 10-frame deep equipment, and for a season I kept two colonies in deeps. But running all mediums made more sense to me, so I began the season-long process of shifting to a new set up.
I began adding 8-frame medium boxes on top of my 10-frame deeps...this requires cutting a small piece of lumber to cover the gap created because of the difference in widths (and initially you'll need to anchor that board with a brick or something to keep it in place), but the bees soon propolize the lumber so that it's pretty secure.
Also, if I were you, and if I were planning to switch to mediums, I would begin installing medium-depth frames into the deep hive bodies you're already using and let the bees draw their comb on frames you can eventually move into your new medium boxes. Yes, the bees may also decide to draw comb in the void space this creates beneath the medium frames, but you can always cut that comb off and rubber band it into another medium frame. Slowly but surely, you can transition out of your bottom deep and into mediums. For me, it was totally worth the trouble.
-Liz