Langstroth 9 5/8 hives are what I am currently running and have used for 46 years. I am in process of converting to square hives of Dadant 11 5/8 depth. I am making my own frames and have arranged to purchase tops, bottoms, hive bodies, and supers from this business at a price cheaper than I can purchase the lumber.
https://lawrencecobee.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/2015-cypress-bee-equipment-pricelist.pdf
Understanding the limitations of Langstroth equipment first requires some understanding of my climate and the methods I choose to use in keeping bees. My climate is hot and humid as a rule with temps up to 110 in July and August. Spring starts with pollen flow in early to mid February, main nectar flow starts about April 25th and normally ends in early June, there is normally a dearth in July and August, then mid to late August a fall flow from goldenrod and aster. Cold weather usually begins about October 15th with aster continuing to produce some nectar and pollen into early November. By December, temps drop below freezing and range between -10C and +15C through mid March.
Here are some of the limits I want to overcome:
I decided that I want to do as little feeding of my bees as possible. This brings an inherent issue that a single Langstroth hive body does not hold quite enough honey plus cluster space plus bees for a good overwintering colony. I've used a Langstroth 9 5/8 plus a 5 11/16 shallow for years to accommodate this limit. The deep plus shallow has a problem that the frames are different sizes therefore not easily interchangeable. Running two Langstroth deeps over winter means leaving a significant amount of honey that could have been harvested and sold.
A Langstroth deep is inherently limited in that a queen will be reluctant to cross into the box above to lay eggs. This reduces egg laying - and in my climate - produces an increase in swarming tendency. If the queen does lay readily in both boxes, I wind up with 20 frames to inspect to find the queen.
Running a 2 queen setup in a Langstroth requires running them vertically with one above the other. This can cause problems with having to move too many boxes to do basic spring manipulations.
Langstroth boxes stack up too high when the honey flow is on. I've had stacks 8 feet high. A strong wind can blow over such a stack.
Here are some of the disadvantages inherent in changing:
1. non-standard equipment that can't be purchased from suppliers here in the U.S.
2. Weight in a single brood box (not good for bad backs)
3. Wintering concerns if the combs do not contain crossover holes
4. Many extractors won't work with the larger frames (I verified that my extractor can do the job)
Here are some of the advantages I expect to find with the square deep 11 5/8 hives:
1. Permits use of a single box for all the brood produced by a single queen
2. Reduces the number of frames that have to be inspected when manipulating the broodnest
3. Properly positions the colony to produce honey from a fall flow that otherwise would be placed in the broodnest
4. Reduces cost of equipment by using one box instead of 2 for broodnest
5. Does not present a barrier to the queen from moving across honey to lay eggs
6. Can be readily adapted for a side by side two queen operation
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