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Subject:
From:
Ted Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 22 Oct 1996 16:11:12 -0400
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  REGARDING           RE>Holes in foundation
 
Jim Moore wrote:
<        I read somewhere,(an old ('87?) Bee Culture?), an opinion
concerning the fact that brood chamber foundation with holes is
better overall for the bees. It was in relation to wintering and
providing easier cluster migration from frame to frame. The bees do
not have to go to the edges of the frames to move from one frame to
the next in very cold weather.
        Other than the cells lost to the holes is there a downside?....
        Do the removable frames provide more "order" for my
convenience at some hidden expense to the bees?  Would providing a
hole or two be worth considering when introducing new foundation?>
 
I doubt that it would do any good at all to put holes in foundation.  Bees
will do what they want to with it, including repairing holes they find or
making new ones if they need them.  I say this because occasionally I get mice
into stored supers or lower brood chambers during the winter.  They do a nasty
job cutting huge holes for their nests.  But when I put these frames back on
the hives, each between two good frames, invariably the bees do a great job of
repairing them good as new.  And sometimes, in the middle of perfectly good
combs, the bees decide that they need to get to the other side in a hurry, and
cut their own hole.
 
The major downside of having extra holes in brood comb is that of giving more
hiding places for queen cells.  The bees love these little niches for this
purpose.
 
Ted Fischer

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