Jonathan B. Kriebel wrote
> Ok, I searched the crap out of the archives,
Don't worry, there's still plenty of crap left.  Fortunately there's gold in
them thar archives too!

> Plasticell or Duragilt?
Hints of recommendations are starting to come out that plastic in general is
less than optimal for honey bees.  Some of the issues are the plastic
"dampens" heat transfer in winter clusters and "dampens" vibrations of
dancing bees (for those who buy into the dance communication hypotheses).
As would be expected, the ideal choice is BEESWAX!

Plasticell pros and cons:  Quick, easy, what you pay extra in cost you more
than make up in saved labor.  Pierco can go straight from the shipping box
into the hive.  You CAN'T beat that for labor savings.  But, it's plastic.
It ain't beeswax.  It's not natural, you can't organicly produce honey if
you use plastic (if indeed one can produce organic honey at all).

Duragilt: quick and easy (although on the occasions when I did use it I
recall I still had to use pins to hold it in place, and I still had to nail
the wedge so it's less quick and easy than plasticell), it's still plastic
but a significant magnitude thinner, once the wax is pulled away from the
plastic sheet the bees will never again use the bare spot, although some
have said that if you recoat the bare spot with melted beeswax the bees will
again draw comb.  I don't doubt this but have never tried it, I gave up on
Duragilt ages ago.

Personal preference: Wood frames, plastic foundation.

What usually decides the issue for most beekeepers is size of operation
balanced with time constraints.  It my world, size of operation and free
time are inversely proportional.  I do not doubt that the ideal situation
for the bees is pure beeswax comb.  Arguably, top bar hives are as good as
it gets.  As a beekeeper has less and less free time to wire foundation, the
appeal of plastic increases.  That is what Jonathan is discovering he's up
against when he writes, "the prospect of wiring 500 frames is not looking
like a possibility."  I stopped using Duragilt because sooner or later one
encounters the bald spots mentioned above.  With recommendations of comb
recycling, perhaps a bald spot is an ideal opportunity to recycle a comb.
If so, what I've always considered a con about Duragilt becomes a pro!  And
if/when it comes down to burning frames, the thin plastic in Duragilt is
less noxious that the thick plastic foundation, both of which are less
noxious than ALL plastic.  In regards to burning, again pure beeswax wins
hands down.

So in a timeless world, pure beeswax wins every time.  Once one becomes time
constrained the choice of which plastic one uses is really a matter of
personal preference.

Incidently, this issue is one of the presentation that will be part of the
Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association seminar to be held here at
UAlbany on March 12, 2005.
http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0501B&L=bee-l&P=R2857
"Plastic frames and foundation:  good for the beekeeper, but good for the
bees?"

Aaron Morris - shamelessly plugging SABA Seminar 2005!

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