From: [log in to unmask] (Gunnar Thygesen)
 Mike Quimby wrote:
 Q> Would it be possible to use a standard deep box as a
 Q> honey super during nectar flow that used only top bars or regular
 Q> frames with starter foundation strips?  Would the bees just
 Q> build cross bracing/random comb instead?  Or could one modify
 Q> the box with an angled piece of wood on each end to encourage
 Q> the "V" comb shape?
 
Hi Mike
No, it would not work. In 1984 when I began my beekeeping there was
a drive in our association in Copenhagen, Denmark towards what was
called frameless beekeeping. Each hive body contained 9 to 10 topbars
22 mm wide and with an equilateral triangular cross section, the edge
pointing down had a groove aprox 5 mm deep and 2 mm width to hold a
strip of foundation aprox 20 mm. The strips had a tendency to creep out
and fall down and were therefore so to speak soldered to the bar with wax.
The space between the bars was as normally between frames. The height of
the hive body was around 150 mm. There was even a flight hole 8 * 70 mm
in each hive body cut in the lower edge of the front panel. The bees
would not go up from an occupied to an empty body and build from the
strips, more often they would try to build upwards from the bars already
in use. Therefore supering was done by putting a new body underneath,
because the theory said that this was the natural way for bees. Well,
if each second of the bars were equipped with full sheets of foundation
and the rest with strips it was possible to get the bees to go upwards
using the full sheets as ladders. That was the way I started my beekeeping
and it was very nice the first summer starting with swarms. But the next
summer, what a mesh with a lot of swarming so I turned to the traditional
way of beekeeping. It was also rather clumsy to inspect the hive as the
bodies had to be separated by drawing a steel wire between the bodies
and the combs did very easily break off the top bars.
Kind regards Gunnar
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