Hi Keith and Everyone,

>If you have ever let bees make their own comb you would see bees make combs
>faster than when they have foundation to start. If you want combs that
mimic >nature let the bees build it from scratch.

That's been my experience and my conclusion as well. The combination of new
wax and an uninterrupted broodnest structure with its variable sized cells
in the right location are working great for me. I'm a hobbiest and find that
a top bar hive meets my needs.

But I also know that commercial beekeeping needs are quite different. The
ultimate combination would be a Pierco type frame with a variable, tapered
cell size. Such a combination might allow for the health advantages of small
cell with the ruggedness,utility and compatibility required by the big bee
guys. These frames could also be scraped to obtain new, clean wax without
the expense of wiring in new foundation.

My experience with the currently availble small cell plastic foundation
hasn't been good. It suffers the same fate as small cell beeswax foundation.
And the bees don't like it's texture or cell wall design. I have pitched
mine out.

Regards
Dennis

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