Robert, welcome back to the world of beekeeping. Keep on using the double brood boxs it makes it easer to manage your hive.Expecially when you start shifting frames around and adding replacement frames. I am in Virginia and I rotate my boxs starting in February, bees like to migrate up and it helps to keep swarming down with all the new space. Don't worry about the extra honey they will use it up raising brood. I'm not sure how your winters are but if I have enough honey I leave a full supper on each hive if not I have to apply 2:1 sugar/water to the hives to get them through the winter @ 60lb's each. I know honey is expensive but my labor to mix and distribute is also expensive. I use an excluder to keep the "gals"from moving up. If you medicate (I don't) you can't use the honey it will be contaminated. This may be a little more information from what you requested but I was on a roll.
Take care.
Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for all your info. All the hands on experience of others is useful. One possible difference between your area and mine is that by mid February we have over 5,000 acres of blooming almond orchards that the bees will be working. I am not sure how that would affect what I am supposed to do with the hives.

Regarding the supers, there was a friend of my dad who was supposed to take care of colonies we shared in the past. He insisted on using one deep and one shallow super for the brood box. What irritated me was that he would not come in the early spring to manage the colonies. The colonies would build up rapidly and then start swarming due to overcrowding.