> Bullet point permanent marker - I put initials and date on every top bar -

I also date every frame put in service in the same manor.

Thanks for the post Peter E. as reminded me that after we rubber stamp the
bee farm name , state and city we write the date placed in service on the
comb when the comb is placed in service . Not the date assembled as new comb
is always on hand in case needed and at times might sit for a few years.

We never kept wired wax around as the foundation became hard & brittle over
time but now  I use waxed hard plastic foundation ( not duragilt) so I have 
pallets of both brood
and extracting sitting around in case needed.

I think bees draw the comb better on all wax ( especially when you order
extra thick wax sheets from the maker) but for the commercial beekeeper
waxed hard plastic is hard to beat.

I still do not care for the all plastic frame but many of my friends do. I
prefer a wood frame (grooved top and bottom) and a waxed ( best done with my
wax) hard plastic foundation.

tip:
Watch budget grade grooved top & bottom frames as some are budget because
they are cut wrong and plastic foundation will keep falling out. However
once drawn most ( not all) will work nicely. A couple well placed nails will
usually solve the problem. However I bought around a thousand extracting
budget frames once and ALL had to wide a spacing. A real pain and many blew
out in high speed extracting.

I would have spotted the problem early but my help did not. I ended up with
a couple pallets of fully drawn extracting frames with problems. Bummer and
costly.

I have never purchased budget frames since.

bob

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