starter strips

[twb]

So, just out of curiosity, I can put empty frames into my hive and the bees will draw out mostly drone comb, but if I give a starter strip of worker cell they will draw out more worker cells than drone?  Is that the main reason to use a starter strip?

[CBEE]

It looks like to me they are meant more to give the bees a good starting point in the center of the frame so they draw more uniform comb. Then again maybe not :-D
But I am going to try some this year

[Michael Bush]

>I can put empty frames into my hive and the bees will draw out mostly drone comb, but if I give a starter strip of worker cell they will draw out more worker cells than drone?

No.  Either way they will draw whatever they feel they need at the time.  If the brood nest is full of worker comb and you put an empty in during the time of year they would like to raise drones, then they will draw it as drone comb.  If there is enough drone comb in the brood nest, they will draw it as worker comb.

The purpose of a starter strip is to act as a guide to get them to draw comb in the frame instead of every which way.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfoundationless.htm

[annette]

Which they did perfectly straight in my hives. It is a wonder to see this.

Annette