From: scott.novinger@airborne.com
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 18:00:00 -0700
To: BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com
Subject: foundation size

Hello BioBeekeepers,

Last night, I began putting 2 " starter strips on my frames. Before I began,
I took out some of the "original" 4.9 foundation that I ordered from Dadant
and measured it according to the method posted on Beesource.com (e.g.
horizontal, diagonal - inside wall to outside wall on a 10 cell count). After
repeated measurements, I found that the foundation measured mostly between
4.85 to 4.9 (with a couple of measurements close to 5.0). This raised a
question in my mind, so I checked to make sure that I was measuring the
original foundation. I was measuring the original foundation.

Just to make sure, I took out some sheets of the "new" 4.9 Jerry Hayes
recently shipped to me. It measured between 4.8 and 4.9 after at least 5
different measurements on as many sheets. Am I measuring this incorrectly?
Or did I just get lucky? Has anyone else besides me found this to be the case
with the "original" 4.9?

One other question. In order to let the bees build their comb naturally (and
also to get the most out of my foundation) I've decided to use 2" (approx.)
starter strips on each frame and let the bees do the rest. My original intent
was to start them out with a 5.1mm "blueprint" (the original 4.9), let them
build the comb and regress, then shake down onto 4.9mm strips later. Since I
am now using what appears to be 4.9 for the first step, how will this impact
the bees? Will they continue with the 4.9 "blueprint" or will the build
larger comb that matches their present size. The bees that I will hive this
weekend are Carniolan bees with Karnika queens.

One last item. Micky, sorry to hear about your losses. Maybe Ted Jansen
could provide you a couple of hives before the honey flow starts? If you talk
with him, please tell him hello for me. Thanks!

Regards,

Scott
scott.novinger@airborne.com