I'm sure this isn't going to earn me a consensus response, but I'm looking for input. I recently read in BC or ABJ that a queen doesn't need two full deeps to lay in, and that a suburban honey flow, if only 40-60 lbs, could easily all end up in the top deep, and nothing making it to the honey super. The article recommended going with 1 deep and 1 medium for brood, and then supering above that.
I'm in the suburbs, and from what other beeks have told me, our main flow is over by the end of June. In my personal experience last year, this is true, but there's a substantial goldenrod flow in the fall.
I've had supers on my two overwintered hives (double deeps) since the beginning of May. They've barely begun to draw them. If the flow will be over in another month, they've got a long way to go for me to get a harvest. It hasn't been a particularly wet/dry/cold/hot spring, so conditions should be pretty good.
If my harvest is weak at the end of June, I'm seriously considering switching to the 1 deep + 1 medium idea, since if they fill the medium with honey in the fall, the 60 lbs they get there will be enough to get them through the winter.
Presumably, though, the smaller brood nest could more readily lend itself to congestion and increase swarming. But...the risk of swarming + harvest vs no swarming + no harvest isn't really a tough decision. I love keeping the bees, but...I do need to get some honey. :)
Thoughts?