On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 3:46 PM, deknow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
> With that said, I think it would be a stretch (at best) to assume (or even
> consider) that even under favorable conditions that unwaxed plastic would
> be drawn as "accurately", or as "well" by whatever criteria you want to
> apply as unwaxed...espeically if you are talking about "fins" of wax
> between the combs.  You can make that claim if you like, but I think anyone
> with experience with plastic foundation will have their own opinion on the
> subject, and I expect that few would agree with you.
>
> You are reporting on observations between 2 brands of plastic (likely
> different formulations, different cell imprint), 2 different cell
> sizes....in my experience, I would expect all of these to be 2nd or 3rd
> order effects when compared to being waxed or unwaxed.
>

I got almost a tractor trailer load of PF 100.  Some was the medium frame
size, and I sold some, but I used a lot of it.  It WAS waxed.  In fact, it
was more heavily waxed than pierco or permadent.  I liked that about it and
did post that to this list.  Wax flakes were in all the boxes.  Pierco is
very stingy with the wax spray and it does not coat the whole frame usually.

I think Allen's comments about the frames that started this thread match my
experience completely.  They seem to be no problem once drawn.  But the
cell size is unnatural for EHB and *some hives* do a terrible job drawing
them.  It is not just bridge comb between frames.   Some frames the bees
just completely ignored the pattern and built perfectly flat comb that was
completely drone cell.  I have never seen that before on pierco, permadent,
or wax so I attribute it to the cell size.  WAS NOT A WAX EFFECT.

We do not get nearly as heavy a honey flow as Alberta, so timing is
important putting foundation on here.  Hive strength is also an important
factor.  But in terms of the ability to cope with the unnatural cell size I
also thought that genetics seemed to be important.  There was considerable
variability between hives.  It must be right on the borderline of
acceptability *for construction* but I have not seen any beehive tear down
comb  once drawn coming from another hive.

Stan

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html