New to bees and not sure if I would be better off running 1 or 2 brood boxes.
My bees are in southern NSW 7-800m elevation and will be wintering there. Winter temps don't get super cold (never hits -10c) but we have roughly 60 nights 0c or below.
Like I said new to bees, very new in fact only picked up my first nuc 2 weekends ago and 2 more last weekend that I would class as super nucs, 5 frames of brood a frame of honey and a honey/pollen frame. All are in 8 frame deeps, the 2 super nucs I picked up both had one undrawn frame. I will be inspecting in the next couple of days and expect both of these will be ready for more room.
I'm thinking about giving one another box to use as they see fit and putting a queen excluder and super of the other.
I don't know anyone that winters bees nearby, there are a few beeks locally but as far as I am aware they all move their hives over winter. I'm thinking 2 8 frame deeps should give them enough room for brood and winter stores. A single eight would probably not have enough to survive winter without feeding.
Any suggestions on which way I should head? I guess starting with 3 hives gives me the option of trying a few different options and seeing what works and what doesn't.