> Does it make a difference placing supers with foundations rather than 
> drawn comb?  How to manage that situation when only wax foundations are 
> available?

I have had good luck with using supers of foundation as honey supers.  When the bees come home from almond pollination (or during pollination) we make a three- or four-frame split from the second brood box on strong hives.  This helps to prevent a honey-barrier in the second box, that Allen mentioned as being a problem.  One or two deep supers with plastic foundation go on at the beginning of April.  Our first nectar flow peaks at the beginning of May, and when it happens the supers will all be drawn out and honey is capped over a period of several days.  We do have problems with swarming in some years. 

This seems to only work well with early and very intense nectar flows in my area.  For the later flows the bees will not draw foundation unless it is placed in the brood chamber.

--Jeremy Rose
San Luis Obispo, CA

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