In message <[log in to unmask]>, Alan Riach
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>For storage of honey in supers, slightly less wax is needed (for a given
>amount of honey stored) if the honey is stored in Drone cells as opposed
>to Worker cells and indeed the bees themselves will often fill in a
>damaged piece of super with drone cell.
>So, here is the question - why don't we use drone foundation in our
>supers in order to give the bees a slightly easier task in drawing out
>the larger (more efficient cells) ?
I do. So do lots of others. You can buy drone foundation from any UK
supplier.
>Are there other subtle disadvantages such as, larger cells making it
>more difficult to dry the honey, or drone cells encouraging laying
>workers far away from the brood nest in pheromone- weak areas?
Unknown. I occasionally have drone brood in supers and no evidence of
the queen getting up. Murray recommended removing queen excluders for
the summer or heather flow, so empty comb, such as is often left just
above the nest might encourage drones to be reared. I wait for my tests
to see if this happens. Also cut comb - I suspect most people would
prefer worker sized but have never tested this. My worker foundation
strips seem to be drawn on as worker size, mostly.
--
James Kilty