These really are better than wood hives in my opinion. I tried 1 last year for the first time. Not only did they over winter better than my wooden hives, they came out with significantly more food stores left over. The colony came out of winter with about half a deep worth of left over honey. The colony was so large in early spring that I was about to take 10 frames of brood out to make splits. 1 hives is only anecdotal so this year I've purchased several more to see if the same results occur. Give them a try for yourself.