I have around half a dozen mediums and two deeps with Piercos and I have the same problem with burr comb.  My experience has been that it makes no difference whether the supers with Piercos are adjacent to each other, or sandwiched between supers with wood frames.  Race of bee seems to make no difference either.  I have Russian, Buckfast, Weaver All American, Weaver Harbo (SMR), and Caucasian and they all build burr on the Piercos.

As has been noted already by others I learned that the Pierco frames must be pushed together and centered as a group in the middle of the box rather than spaced uniformly.  To do otherwise is a recipe for certain disaster.

As for my wood frames I have a mixture of Kelley, Dadant/Western Bee, Root, and a bunch from places that you've never heard of in solid, grooved, and split bottom bars.  I mix them freely (but not with Pierco in the same super) and have had no problems with burr even though I've noted that the bee space is anything but uniform between the tops and bottoms on some combinations.  I think it has something to do with the plastic.

My only problem with Piercos has been getting them drawn.  I now know better than to put either new or freshly scraped ones on unless there's a strong flow.

I'm still watching to see if anyone has something to say about Permacomb.  I like to experiment and will likely try them eventually.  If anyone has some and decided to take them out of use let me know.

Take care,

Lance Parr
Network Specialist II
Physical Plant Telecommunications
Texas A&M University
Mail Stop 1371
College Station, Texas  77843-1371
[log in to unmask]
(979) 458-1746

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