Bill Meister reported:

>> I had used only Dadant Plasticell foundation for my initial brood
>> boxes and the bees drew them out quite nicely.  However, I decided
>> to try their Duragilt foundation in my newest hive and find the bees
>> made this wild arrangement of combs...

>> Wax coated Plasticell is  USD 0.83
>> Duragilt is USD 0.97.
>> My decision was to buy the "best" rather than least expensive because
>> my quantities were so small that it made little overall difference.

"Highest priced" does not imply best.  If you check the archives of
Bee-L, or ask beekeepers, there are many who have had problems with
Duragilt, but far fewer who have had any problem with Plasticell or
the many other similar embossed plastic foundations, both waxed
and unwaxed.

Robin Dartington said:

> If you work at the level of 4 colonies, it sounds very strange not to
> start with the simplest and oldest methods.

How could hand-wiring frames, and imbedding wax foundation into the
wires be considered "simple"?

> Plastic foundation is artificial

So are metal hive tools, nylon bee brushes, plastic queen excluders,
stainless-steel extractors, tin smokers, 8-mesh screen, nails, screws,
and so on.  About the only "natural" item used in beekeeping these days
are smoker fuels!  ...and honey bees are not native to North American,
either.  So what?

> and creates special problemns for bees (they find it unnatural,
> and try to avoid it by buiding natural comb cross ways)

Not if the frames are properly spaced, which is my guess as to the
nature of the error.  Anyway, he said that he had no problems with
Plasticell, which is simply a different line of plastic-based foundation.

> and beekeepers ( bees have to be forced to draw it out,

Well, one could argue that this is true of any foundation, as bees
will not draw additional comb unless they "feel" that they "need" the
extra comb (nectar coming in, and limited available drawn comb).

> it is difficult to clean  and re-wax unless u have tanks for steaming
> and dipping).

"Cleaning" old Plasticell is a matter of having or borrowing a solar
wax melter.  "Re-waxing" is not really required.  If you spray the bare
plastic with some sugar water or anise oil, the bees will drawn it out
just fine.

If you really feel you MUST re-wax plastic, one can simply melt some
wax in a (dead level) half-sheet baking tray floating in a full sheet
baking tray filled with water to make a very flat "double boiler", and
dip the plastic into the hot wax.  While this takes all four burners
of a typical stove to get an even heat over such a wide surface area,
each burner can be on "low".  (Insert usual warnings here about kitchens
being the worst place to attempt any beekeeping task, and the hazards
associated with angering one's significant other by [mis]using their
cherished baking trays.)

Speaking of full-sheet baking trays, they also make great "coasters"
for stacks of supers, as they catch all the drips of honey, and
can be hosed off with ease.  Used, from a restaurant supply house,
I got a dozen of them for a buck each.

And unlike wired wax foundation, plastic is POSSIBLE to clean.
Wired wax foundation, when placed into a solar melter will yield
wires coated with charred material that must be cleaned by hand to
avoid ending up with supers of "Bar-B-Q Flavored" honey and/or
enough ash to make one's "Italian" bees look like Carniolans.
(The wires apparently get much hotter than the wood, which makes
sense.)

> There is obviously a case for artificial foundation in professional
> beekeeping at the industrial scale - but with only 4 colonies?

Sure - it is called "convenience" and "ease of use".  Check out the latest
"trend" in bee supplies, where beekeepers are buying pre-assembled woodenware
and frames.  This assembly does not come free, so it is clear the hobby
beekeepers are willing to pay extra to save some time and trouble.

The "best" thing about products like Plasticell is their durability in an
extractor.  Even if an old frame comes apart (hey, it can happen at 600 RPM!)
the frame can be removed and repaired, or the comb inserted into another frame,
and one has, at worst, some damaged drawn comb for the bees to repair.

> Renewing brood combs yearly keeps disease down.

You renew ALL your brood combs EVERY year?  That seems just a tad excessive.
We renew on a 5-year cycle, (using queen-color thumbtacks on each frame to
track the age of each comb).

Best of all, the tiny amount of wax on Plasticell is MUCH less than the amount
of wax required for foundation, which means we can expect far fewer problems
from any wax contaminated with PDB, miticides, et al.  As has been noted on
this list, the recycling of wax into foundation has caused ever-higher levels
of contamination of all but "cut comb thin surplus" foundation, intended to be
drawn into edible comb, and made only from "cappings wax".

Clearly, for "cut comb" or "Ross Rounds", one needs wax foundation, but neither
of these cases require wiring, which is the complicated and tedious part.


                        jim (who asks people who use pure wax
                       foundation "Wire you using that?")

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