I am about to shift to plastic frames/foundation and wonder what, if any new
developments have happened since our last long discussion - which mostly
dealt with acceptance.

I ran my own trial about ten years ago comparing different plastic
foundation and complete plastic frames. I still have the complete frames in
my apiary but not the foundation, so my preference is full plastic
frames/foundation.

I like the full frames as they are easy to spot (if mixed with wood with
beeswax foundation- it happens), clean (hive tool and pressure washer) and ,
my guess only, probably better for disease management. The hive with the
plastic seems to have done well over the years. Acceptance was not an issue
with the full frames. It was with some of the plastic foundation sheets. The
full frames that survived my trial are black.

Obviously I want to totally shift to keep some semblance of uniformity,
especially in foundation size. After my many trials of cell size, I really
do not think it makes much difference here in Maine. It is interesting that
the plastic foundation I trialed did have different cell sizes.

Back when I bought the frames, Pierco seemed to be the only show in town for
complete frames, but I note that Dadant carrys their own brand. Any
suggestions on what seems to be the best manufacturer today for complete
plastic frames/foundation? Obviously, plastic has come a long way in
beekeeping.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

             ***********************************************
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

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L