>In my opinion, the reason bees do better initially with wax foundation is
>very simple: there is enough wax in the sheet of foundation for them to
>stretch and build the entire comb, especially in the medium and heavy 
weight
>foundation.

Peter,

Is there a good reference that bees ’stretch’ foundation to create cells?

I know that this is the common belief by many beekeepers, but I  have 
never seen any evidence supporting this assumption.  I had used black 
foundation at one time, and the cells on the foundation were clearly built 
of whitish wax and not any shade of gray as one might expect to see from 
stretching foundation.  

If bees are ‘stretching foundation’,  perhaps the beekeepers need to feed 
packages and the bees need for festooning would have become obsolete.  


Best Wishes,

Joe Waggle
Derry, PA
“Bees Gone Wild Apiaries”
FeralBeeProject.com
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles

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