I want to get a couple of drone combs to drop in my brood chambers for a little bit of mite control among other things... and as you know, I have an all mediums hive. I also want to go with all plasticell foundation. Well, the only plastic drone foundation that I can find is the green pierco one that only seems to be available in deeps. So I'm wondering if anyone has tried, or knows if it's possible, to cut the peirco drone foundation out of their frame, and down to a medium size, then install it in a wood medium frame?
My next question about foundation is that for the worker foundation, I can only seem to find the plasticell foundation in only one cell size... instead of natural cell size, small cell size, etc... Is that just the necessary trade-off for using plasticell?
Another question... do I want GTB or WTB frames to use with plasticell foundation?
If all the other foundation is worker sized,just put an empty frame with no foundation.They will build drone comb.They have a need to build drone comb somewhere. Putting drone foundation in doesn't guarantee they will put the drones there,they may build the drone comb between the boxes.
I've seen the green frames cut to fit a medium, too.
You can just cut the frame down to 6 1/4". You can cut the foundation out and put it in a frame, if you like. Or you can just use empty wood frames with starter strips or comb guides during the season when they want drones and they will fill it with drone anyway if they don't have any drone comb.
I put a medium of empty wood frames with starter strips, and the bees immediately drew out three frames of drone comb. Now, all the drones hatched out, and they have filled it with honey. It's kind of neat to see the comb without foundation at all. It looks like a top bar shape now, but they are slowly filling in the corners. A couple of blanks seems cheaper and jsut as effective as the green comb and easier to boot.
Without getting too far OT - why does one want more "Drone Combs" in a specific Hive?
Personally, I don't. I let the bees make what they want. I have noticed, however, that if all that is in the hive is worker foundation, they will immediately build drone comb until they feel they have enough. How much is enough is a question for smarter minds than my own. The concept of adding drone comb is that the mites will be attraced to the larger sized cells and attack the drones. The comb is pulled out when capped. frozen and the put back in the hive. The freezer kills the brood and the mites, then the bees clean it out. I cannot attest for its effectiveness, although clearly there are many who find it so.
I like the groove tops...Its easy to use!..Just build the frame and then pop the plasticell right in. It bends (the plasticell) so it just snaps right in!...Snaps right out too if you want it to :)
Dont leave the plasticell in the bed or back seat of your truck though when its hot cuz it can wrinkle and that messes it up to where you cant use it.
your friend,
john
As far as small cell size plastic, you can buy PF100s or PF120s from Mann Lake. These are 4.95mm.
I have personnel hived a swarm this year in a nuc with foundation in the center for the bees to cling to the other 4 frames just had starter strips as Mr. Bush's site recommends, the bees ignored the foundation and drawed the all the frames without foundation first.