Dear Aaron
 
I am also in the process of buying new frames.  I just compared the cost using
of Pierco plastic frames with plastic foundations versus wood frames with
plastic foundation.  I put Quattro Pro to work on this and found out the
following:  if you use your frames only once and then throw them away, the
Pierco option is 10% cheaper.  But if you are going to melt and put new
foundation several times in your wooden frame, then the Pierco is much cheaper:
27% cheaper if you melt 1.5 times on average; 41% if you melt them 2.3 times.
This is based on 20 years life expectancy for the wood and 15 years for the
plastic.  It includes all the cost including wiring, wax, labour for
preparation, etc.
 
The plastic option has other advantages: shorter extracting time, ease of
preparation for melting (the old comb can be just scraped off) and no
preparation required (during a very busy period of the season).  One also has to
consider that all the wax foundation on the market will soon be contaminated
with chemical residues.  This presently the case in Europe.
 
So,  even if I am reluctant to use plastic in my hives, I think I will give them
a serious try...
 
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Jean-Pierre Chapleau                         phone: (819)828-3396
1282, rang 8,                                fax:   (819)828-2248
Saint-Adrien de Ham, QUEBEC
Canada, J0A 1C0                          [log in to unmask]
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