Wow, one I can actually speak to.  Here in northern New England I use only all plastic foundation - Pierco black deeps for brood and Pierco white mediums for supers (currently for 12 hives, 10 nucs and 4 queen castles/mating boxes).  Have never had a problem getting the bees to draw it out, provided there is a flow on, or they are fed.  The frames come waxed, and I do not add any additional wax.  The bees have no problem making drone cells (or queen cells) as needed.  Over time it is easy to see the difference in cell size that occurs between the middle and the ends of the frames (smaller in the middle, larger towards the edges, which makes sense with cocoon build up, etc, in the brood area).  So, from the standpoint of bee activity, the bees seem to deal with all plastic frames just fine.  I find the frames very durable and still have some from when I switched over around 10 years ago.  Just scrape them down as needed and reuse.  The only thing I have noticed is that I get a lot of bridge comb between frames between boxes.  The frame dimensions are not the issue, but I was told on another forum that bees will do that with plastic frames.  Since I have been using them for so long, I have no basis for comparison to wood frames.  I try not to move my brood boxes very often, so that could be part of it, too.  As long as I pry the outer frames up, before I try to move a box, it is not an issue.  I tell myself the bridge comb makes it easier for them to move up in the winter and is actually a good thing.

Bill

Claremont, NH

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