Based on my experience, I will try to answer a few questions from this thread in one post.
Question: what is the advantage of plastic foundation for the bees?
I suspect most of the advantages are for the beek, but, one of the reasons I went to plastic was because the Pierco all-plastic frames had/have more comb per unit surface area than wax foundation. One of my philosophies (if I can call it that, being only a hobbyist) is to give the bees as much space to live as possible. That's why I run three deeps. The extra comb per frame helps.
Question: what do you do with discarded plastic frames?
I had to get rid of some a few years ago when some hives came down with AFB after a bear attack (electric fence charger had failed). I double bagged them and brought them to the recycling center/land fill and asked if they could be recycled. Because they did not have a recycling number on them, I was told to toss them in the dumpster. Not a big deal for a couple of hives worth of frames, but I could see it being a problem with hundreds or thousands of frames. In that scenario, I would push very hard to have them recycled. Could I have just scraped and sanitized? Probably, but I am a poor gambler and not into taking chances.
Question: how do you repair them in the field?
Honestly, I haven't broken one yet. I HAVE managed to put a ding in the top of a lug by prying too hard against it to leverage out the frame next to it, but that is two frames in 10 years. And, those two frames still work fine.
Question: where do you buy your frames?
BetterBee, because their shipping rates are much better to New England. They are also fast and very nice to talk to. I think shipping costs are the big factor, since the 52 frame boxes are not lightweights.
Question: what do you do with warped frames?
I have never had any (yet). But, if a frame warped, while being rested against a hive box, would reversing the frame, so the bulge was facing up, and letting the sun and gravity do the rest, 'unwarp' it?
Question: what do you do with 'bad'/'ugly'/uneven comb on plastic foundation?
Scrape and reinsert. I think they draw it out even faster, if you scrape it down, since the wax and resulting goo now has their 'smell' on it (just a guess).
On the subject of bridge comb, I had a plan to cut some fractions of an inch off of the bottoms of the boxes of one hive and see if the smaller gap reduced the amount of comb that built up. But, life keeps getting in the way. Again, prying up the outer two frames on either side of a box before moving it seems to solve the problem.
Bill
Claremont, NH
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