D. Murrell wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> CS Shaw was measuring cell size on plastic frame/foundation and discovered
> that Mann Lakes standard plastic frame has a cell size of 4.9mm.
I measured some of mine that I used back when I was running trials of 
plastic for our state newsletter. It was a cursory measurement and came 
out to about 5.0 (using a ruler and converting) so could easily have 
been 4.9.  It was drawn out fairly well but the bees fared no better 
than on other foundation. In fact, that colony was always a poor 
producer, survived winters but with small number of bees and eventually 
died.

The problem in any trial like mine is the low number of colonies I 
tested, so I  have no real idea if it was the bees or the foundation 
that lead to their eventual death. The bees on the larger plastic 
foundation did not do much better while the ones on wax did well.

I did trial Dadant 5.0 wax foundation back when there was only tracheal 
and they did exceptionally well. I had one colony that just would not 
die, even with no treatments. But it was just a survivor and not a 
producer. I gave it to another beekeeper who lost all of his bees every 
year and it continued to survive. But was it the bees or the foundation? 
I had other colonies on the same foundation that were good and bad. When 
I was not able to manage them during my ill health, they all did poorly 
and some died. I had to re-queen the lot.

That experience has tempered my acceptance of small cell as the cure-all 
of beekeeping, but my experience also leads me to believe that it can 
help, to an extent.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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