On Wed, 7 Dec 2011 10:50:08 -0500, allen  wrote:

>I have accidentally obtained quite a bit of what I consider to be small comb: 5.0mm and may be able to do a comparison sometime in the next year.   

I have had a chance to look into these hives and can attest that my bees have done a far more consistent job on the Permadent frames than the PL100s.  I gave them both in equal amounts, at random.

Some hives drew the PL100s flawlessly; some made a complete mess, and others decided to build at right angles to them.  I've had to scrape quite a few down.

With the Permadent, there were the inevitable few burr combs at a right angle and occasional poorly drawn spot, but there is a big difference.  I have not had to scrape more than a few square inches on any Permadent sheet.

I plan to continue to intermix the drawn PL100s with my other drawn frames in the brood chambers.  So far they seem to be accepted well for brood.  Final decision pending.

I like the idea of a more compact brood nest made possible with a denser cell count, but at this point I think that 5.0 mm cells are a tad small for my purposes.   

I also suspect that 5.0 will not extract as well when used in supers due to the smaller cell.  

Wishing to use the same frames for brood and extracting was actually the main reason to move to the larger end of the cell range observed in natural colonies when deciding on foundation cell size.  Larger cells extract more easily due to less cell wall friction and less capillary action.  

I still think Pierco hit the sweet spot with 5.25 mm in their standard frames.  Sadly, their shallows are not 5.25, though.

My advice these days is to _be sure_ to inquire about cell size when buying foundation so you get the size you want.  Measure yourself to be sure if there is any doubt.  

If you are in AHB country, you may very well want 5.0mm or smaller.  

If you run EHB, you may want a bit bigger for best acceptance.

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