cutting starter strips

[randydrivesabus]

i have these SC strips but they're kinda wide. is there a better way to cut them down other than a utility knife? they seem to be on the brittle side and crack easily.
i also have some standard cell size foundation that i would like to turn into standard cell size starter strips.
anyone know how to do this? there are wires in it so i would have to cut those too.

[Jerrymac]

I use a pizza cutter to cut the foundation into strips. Don't know about the brittle part unless you have it cold.

[randydrivesabus]

that sounds like a good way to do it. don't tell my wife that i took the pizza wheel.

[Kathyp]

i used scissors to start the cut and then just bent and broke it.  it broke straight.  mine was cold because i'd had it on the back porch.  i had to bring it into the house and let it warm up some.

[randydrivesabus]

mine is in an outbuilding and temperatures have been in the upper 40's low 50's the last few days. maybe i'll wait a few days until it gets warmer like it supposed to.

[TwT]

yup, pizza cutter

[Bennettoid]

What are starter strips and what do you use them for?

[Understudy]

Starter strips are used to give bees a place to start building comb.
You can read about in in tillie's blog.

http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2007/03/small-cell-foundation-starter-strips.html

or from Michael's site.

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

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[tillie]

I cut them with a rotary cutter like you use in quilting - it's a fancy pizza cutter and has the advantage of having a cutting board designed for it under the wax so the wax is less likely to break and the blade dulls less quickly. 

I use a ruler as a guide and run the wheel against the ruler.  There's a picture of it on the site Brendhan gave in the previous post.

Good luck -

Linda T in Atlanta

[Zoot]

Tillie,

Very nice site. How many 3/4" inch starter strips do you place in a frame and at what intervals?

[tillie]

Hi Zoot,

You cut the starter strip the length of the foundation.  So then you only put one 3/4 inch strip in the frame waxed to the top bar of the frame.  The bees build comb (if they are behaving themselves) from the top down.  The 3/4 inch strip runs the length of the top of the frame.  When it is in the groove, about 1/2 inch is available to the bees. 

Cutting a full sheet of foundation into 3/4 " strips means that the one sheet goes a long way....more or less depending on what size it is in the first place!

It helps (I discovered the hard way) to put a frame or two in a 10 frame box that is full of foundation....either a full sheet of foundation or drawn comb - more of a guide for the bees.

I do have one hive that is insistent on coloring outside the lines no matter how much guidance I offer them.  They are doing better now but tend to rebel on several frames in every box.

Linda T in Atlanta