I just made my first bee equipment order from Brushy Mountain in anticipation of my package of bees arriving April 7th (from B. Weaver apiaries).
I have all medium supers and intended to cut starter strips from the foundation I ordered. I wanted to go with small cell, but I must have gotten confused and ended up ordering regular (large) size foundation: http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/products.asp?pcode=406 (http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/products.asp?pcode=406) instead of small cell foundation: http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/products.asp?pcode=284 (http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/products.asp?pcode=284)
Question: Do I need to change my order to cancel the regular foundation and order instead the small cell? (Remember I am cutting starter strips from the foundation anyway--will bees make small/natural cell size even from starter strips of regular size?)
Thanks in advance!
If you are using them for starter strips I wouldn't worry.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
They will be just fine for starter strips, I take a pizza cutter and count down about five rows of cells and cut off a strip. I usually get about 10 or so from one sheet of deep foundation. Make sure you get it secured good in the frame, you may want to get a wax tube and secure them with beeswax.
Unless you are getting small cell bees, it is not a problem. I assume you are attempting to regress large cell bees to natural cell cell? If so, they will want to draw large cell to start with anyway.
It won't make a lot of difference. Just make the starter strips short (1/2" or so will do) and they will figure it out. They tend to make the top row bigger anyway.
Thanks guys--my fears are allayed.
I am not regressing but rather this is my first order of bees ever, and they are coming in a package. It looks to me like B. Weaver is an "organic" approach kind of apiary, but I don't know whether my bees will be big ones or small ones.
>I don't know whether my bees will be big ones or small ones.
Big ones.