I’ll start with a short, simple explanation of some basics
for readers that aren’t clued up on keeping bees.
If we begin with the general type of bee hive that has been
used by most keepers in France and the UK for the last 100 years or so which
comprises a Brood box or what we could call the “hive proper” where the colony
lives and the Supers which are placed on top of the Brood box for the excess
honey production that the keeper takes. A Queen excluder is placed between the Brood box and the supers. This is a grill made either from metal or plastic that allows the workers to pass through but prevents the larger Queen from "getting upstairs" and laying eggs in the honey supers, however skinny Queens do sometimes get through.
Click to enlarge images.
If you look at the picture you can see these have wooden
frames placed inside them, one size for the Brood box and another size for the
Supers. These frames are to support the comb and it has been common practice for
the last 150 years or so to pre fit these frames with a sheet of moulded wax to
give the bees something to build on. The wax sheets are pressed with a
honeycomb design and the size or number of these to any given area will
determine or dictate to the bees the dimensions that they will use to construct their
cells.
Frame with standard wax foundation fitted.
When we take and examine a piece of bee comb from a feral
colony it soon becomes clear that different bee colonies make different size
cells and more to the point the size of their cells varies in a single colony
which would indicate that pushing bees down a one size fits all route may not
be desirable, or more precisely may be desirable for the keeper but not necessarily
for the bees. Of course we can’t know “if the bees care or not” but as I’m
committed to leaving them to their own devices wherever I can I only use wax
foundation sheets in the honey supers where the increased rigidity is required to
withstand the forces from centrifugal extraction, (spinning). For the brood box
frames I simply fix a starter strip of wax in the top of the frame to point
them in the right direction, this can be moulded or plain, the rest is up to
them. The important thing is to take great care in getting the hive level in
all directions as the bees comb will always be vertical and we want the comb
they make to remain inside the frames and integrate the stainless steel wires.
Frames with starter strips.
Natural comb drawn from starter strip.
Warré frame part drawn with natural comb.
Other than saving money another potential benefit for the bees maybe a reduction in any pesticide or other toxic build up there could be in using old wax that has been recycled from other hives. It won't prevent the bees bringing "cides" in but it gives them a clean start.
Chris
