On Thu, 18 Jan 1996,
Jane B. of San Jose, California wrote:
 
>I've put communication holes at the top, on the theory that there is less
>room up there for moving from frame-to-frame, and on natural comb that's
>where you find them, anyway.  I'd be interested in the reason why someone
>would think they need to be at the bottom, where the frames don't generally
>meet, as they do at the top.  Seems redundant.
 
and Robert McDowell (no address given) wrote:
 
>At one time I ran several hundred colonies, some with foundation that
>had the plastic layer in the middle with beeswax on both sides.  I recall
>the bees trying to chew communication holes on the top corners.
 
Two brands of foundation in the U. S. with
"communication holes" are Duracomb and Duragilt, both
with plastic sheet reinforcement covered by wax,
introduced initially by Dadant in1963.  (Dadant & Sons is
the largest and probably one of the oldest beekeeping
supply companies in the U.S., and is the publisher of
American Bee Journal.)  The 1996 Dadant catalog pictures
both of these foundations with the communication holes
on the bottom.  Furthermore, in the book "First Lessons in
Beekeeping" by C. P. Dadant (first copywrited 1917,
TENTH printing in 1990) states on p. 23,  Fig. 3 (picture
of Duragilt foundation), "The two holes in the bottom of
the foundation are called 'communication holes' and will be
used by the bees as they travel through the comb."
 
This establishes that the INTENT is for communication
holes to be positioned at the BOTTOM of the frame.  That
in itself, however, does not establish scientific validity.
 
In my observation of deep brood chamber frames,
whenever bees are given wire reinforced foundation, they
draw the comb from top to bottom (as they do in nature),
then chew away a space between the comb and the
BOTTOM bar.  I am not convinced the purpose of this
space is for "communication" or travelling.  I will casually
hypothesize it is an area reserved for building queen cups
in anticipation of producing queen cells for possible future
swarming.
 
I have never observed bees having chewed holes in the
upper corners of comb in frames.  First of all, since bees
naturally build comb from top down, it seems "out of
character" for them to THEN go back and chew holes
through the top, which in many instances in the wild
supports the weight of the comb.  Second, the top corners
is exactly where the bees store honey for immediate access
to the brood area.  And last, whenever I have used
Duragilt in brood chamber deeps, the bees try
(unsuccessfully) to enlarge the manufactured
communication holes (at the bottom) by removing the wax
around them, rendering that section of frame useless.
(BTW, I have never observed bees chewing "communication
holes" anywhere in honey supers, but then, I use the
shallow size there, so the comparison may not be valid.)
 
It would be good to hear from Dadant about this.  Surely
this has been discussed in ABJ of the past.  What about it,
"scientists", and, especially, "ordinary" beekeepers out there?  :>}
 
David Martin
[log in to unmask]
Fifteen years a "scientist",
Four years a beekeeper, with
Six hives in central North Carolina, USA