From: "Michael Palmer" if you give them foundation before the flow
starts...then the
> flow is weak or non-existent...as sometimes happens...and the foundation,
> the money you spent on it, and all the work to install it in the
> frames...is lost.'

Yes, to an extent.  You put on a super ahead of need, just, as it is
important not to give extra space too late - or bees will swarm.  And yes,
if no flow follows, a super of foundation may get damaged. The weather is
always a risk in any form of food production.  But let's assess the loss.

In UK, a super takes 10 shalow frames containing 1 lb of foundation.
Provided u return wax to the makers, the foundation costs £0.90  per 10
sheets (more or less, depending who u go to).   In comparison, one jar of
honey sells at £3.  So cost or having damaged foundation re-cast is not a
large factor.

Time is.  Conventional UK frames with removable top wedges and split bottom
bars are ridiculously slow - a Victorian hangover.  U can get two piece
plastic frames though, that u prise apart, lay in a sheet of unwired
foundation, press together again.  Much quicker. US beekeepers lay
foundation into permanently wired frames and electrically embed so I am
told - which also sounds quick.

Neither cost nor time justifies feeding sugar when supers are on, with
consequent adulteration of the crop, in my opinion.

What do all the lurkers feel?

Robin Dartington

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