Plastic frames

[orvette1]

I have plastic frames. When they come they are coated with wax. Because it is hot where I store them, the wax melts off. Do I have to recoat the frames with wax?

[slacker361]

I would , mine didnt melt of but I had to put more wax on so the bees would except them. there are still a couple of frames , and i have no idea why, that the bees still wont work on

[leechmann]

Do you just dip them in bees wax, or brush it on. Whats the best was to do this ?

[slacker361]

if i had a vat big enough to dip them I would just dip them, but i do not, so I used one of those foam paint  brushes, others have used the foam rollers with success.

[VolunteerK9]

I have a few of them that I ordered prior to deciding to try some foundationless and small cell and my bees drew them out as is. However, we have a dearth going on here and they arent drawing anything out at all. Not sure whats going on in Hawaii, but that may be the culprit. No flow, no draw :)

[oldenglish]

For best results I always coat mine with more wax, I use the foam brush as I never had any luck using the roller.
Also if the frames are in the hive for a long period of time without being drawn out I usually pull them and re coat with wax as the bees will clean it off to use elsewhere, this happens most often on the outside frames.

[slacker361]

with that in mind that the bees will clean a frame off and use the wax else where, would it be a good idea just to leave a clump of wax down in the hive, so the bees can get to it when needed?

[hardwood]

Before I went to foundationless (I still do use a couple of black pierco frames in hives I'd like to graft from...easier to see eggs) I would use the 4" foam rollers to wax the foundation. Even if they're "pre-waxed" I'd wax 'em again as the sprayed on wax from suppliers is too thin to be effective.

That said, I'll be helping a friend (S&S Apiaries) wax 5,000 plasti-cel foundations this weekend. I've got 50 lbs of wax in a turkey fryer to dip in. The trick is to heat the wax to where it's quite "loose" as to get a thin coat without plugging up the cell pattern. Simply dip and shake off excess, place in a rack that holds 30 foundations with a fan blowing on it. By the time you're on #30 the first 10 are cool and dry.

We mix a pound or two of honey in with the melted wax to encourage the bees to start working the frames...works great!

Scott

[mdbee]

I seen a post on here where a person just rub wax on a plastic foundation and the bees pulled the cells out only where he rub the wax. I had a bunch of new pierco that i got from a old bee keeper so I took a supper of med pierco's and i rub them all over with some wax that i got from a cut out. In one week they pulled them out, I also spayed sugar water and Honey B Healthy. To be sure you need a flow or feed them but just rubbing wax all over them will work.