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Date: | Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:45:24 -0500 |
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I appreciate the comments. I do hate wiring frames. I primarily make nucs
and it seems like a brilliant idea that if my comb will only be used in
brood nests it does not to be reinforced. I am sure my lone customer
would be miffed if his nucs were full of drone comb, but you have all
convinced me that if I let them draw a lot of comb, I shouldn't get
excessive drone comb. I will make a few nucs this spring with a frame of
brood, a queen cell and three frames without foundation. I will lay a
bead of wax along the top bar, like Dee suggested. I will compare the
results to colonies started with three frames of foundation.
If I hate wiring, why not use plastic foundation? My primary concern with
plastic is its reusability. I was at a friend's place when he was
rendering frames. When you render wax foundation frames all you are left
with is wires... with plastic there is this warped unusable junk. I have
often heard people talk about reusing plastic foundation by steaming off
the old comb and then putting them back into colonies. I presume the
plastic is then redipped in wax and put into colonies.
Plastic starts to look like a sustainable (and highly profitable) practice
if you can reuse the plastic. Does anyone have any expereince with this?
How many times can you steam a plastic frame and still have it be useful?
Presumably the most sustainable practice is to have the bees draw out
their own comb. I will give it a try and I thank everyone for the advice.
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