I found out last winter in Galveston that Mann Lake's standard one-piece frames
are made with a 4.9 cell size.  I also found out that I had already bought some,
assuming that, since they are an obvious Pierco knock-off, they would be the
same as Pierco, which was 5.25 last time I measured.

I was a bit shocked that a major supplier to all manner of beekeepers, including
commercial honey producers would decide to make a main product 4.9mm
without offering an alternative and without warning buyers. 

I have not heard of any of our bee scientists advising using such small cells, but
I have heard many expressing doubt about the practise.  In fact we were advised
to discard old combs due to the reduced cell size with cocoon accumulation
over time.  That reason has faded to the background now that removing chemical
contamination by removing combs has become more pressing.

With a normal EHB size around 5.2mm (+/-1mm) foundation, ten frames in a
single are more than enough room for even the best queen.

I personally have find that some foundations to have cells that are larger than
I like for brood simply because the brood nest has to be larger than one box
to accommodate the number of cells of brood that a good queen will lay.  A
small change in cell diameter has a large effect on the number of cells on a frame.

It is apparent now that foundation buying has gotten to be a bit of a minefield,
and nothing can be taken for granted.

I am imagining that some commercial beekeepers using the new Mann Lake frames
for honey supers are wondering why extraction takes longer and the honey 
does not come out as well.

What its the effect of mixing in one brood box, combs on 4.9mm foundation with combs
on 5.4mm foundation?  Does it matter?

Does anyone know?

Why not?

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