Greetings from sunny, parched, very hot northern New Mexico.  I would like
to cast my vote in favor of Pierco plastic (any plastic, but I use Pierco
primarily).  I placed a set of this years nucs (made in April and grown to
two deeps) one week ago in an area with lots of yellow clover.
Traditionally this is a good area but, with the drought like conditions I
was wondering just how much nectar the clover would yield.  We have had
several weeks of 90+ temps and no rain for so long that I forget what clouds
look like. Anyway, I supered with frames of undrawn Pierco (9 frames of
Pierco, one bait frame drawn comb).  When I went back yesterday to check,
all colonies had completely drawn and filled one box and were working on the
second box.
    Two points:
    1.  With a STRONG honeyflow, the bees will draw the plastic with no burr
comb, no false starts...of course with a strong flow they will probably draw
just about anything.
    2.  As a test I have interspersed black, white, yellow, and brown
plastic to see if I could tell a difference in acceptance.  They seemed to
draw all from the center frames to the outer frames regardless of the frame
color.
 
   I have another set that does not have clover and is definately affected
by the dry weather.  The bees are making honey, but at a  much slower rate.
Inspecting them, I find that they are drawing the plastic at a slower rate,
and seem to prefer the wax foundation although again, by interspersing
various colors, and plastic and wax, I still see the normal pattern of
drawing from the center to the edge of the box.  They may skip a plastic
frame to work an adjacent wax frame but, when they need the space, they seem
to come back in to work the plastic.  Again, I dont really see a difference
in acceptance based on color.  I have to admit that I have been sceptical
concerning the color.  I know the Canadians seem to find a preference for
black plastic but I still wonder how the bees see any color inside the hive
in the dark (admittedly a lot of my equipment has enough holes in it that
some light probably filters in <g>).  That said, I think the color could be
useful in rotating out brood comb.
 
As is often said on the net...my opinion only, your mileage may vary.
 
Patrick M. O'Hearn
Bears Choice Honey
Bloomfield, New Mexico
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