>. . .I've got to go foundationless but I keep "chickenin' out."
Tia - Try it, you'll like it!
I have found it to be interesting, provacative, entertaining, fascinating, and most of all very fun. Fun to watch, fun to see how it comes out, and fun to know there's nothing there but what the bees want to be there.( i know, enough already)
Just drop one into your broodnest and see what happens. Whattayagot tolose?
DAVID E-
> Did you use a starter strip and wires?
Nope. Just the frame. I'm thinking wires might be fun to try, but that would require more work.
> Did you have a starter strip at the bottom also.
Nope. I've not used starter strips. I have tried foundation once, but had miserable results
and have been gun-shy of it ever since. I don't really want to have it in there and i remember not liking to deal with it when i did try it.
sierrabees-
>Until then, they are too fragile to handle.
Aye, they are very delicate, but i cannot stop myself from peeking in on them probably way too often. I don't bother the brood nest too often, but when i can, i lift out honey frames just to see what they are building. It's so cool! Thanks to Don (fat/beeman), i can now do this with ease!(another story)
I just can't turn a fresh frame top over bottem and study it upside down. I've got to turn it end for end, keeping it right side up and very vertical. I have learned this the hard way!
> Once the girls have finished their work you can't get better comb
I couldn't agree more.
jamiev -
>Your frames look wedged on sides and top. Are they?
Some are, and many are wedged all around. I dont do that any more, too much work. Now i just glue and staple the triangle strip across the top. I think it works better, or at least just as well.
>If you put a wire across the center would it deter the bees from drawing?
I have not tried it, but i do not think it would bother them at all.
>Can I do some empty foundationless between fully drawn frames in the brood chamber, a mix of foundationless and wired wax?
As dcross says, absolutely. This, as i understand, works the best. In the broodnest, you want to make sure there are enough bees to keep the brood warm enough. One foundationless between two drawn frames wouldn't be a problem. More than that would depend upon the strength of the colony.
I would not place a foundationless between undrawn wired wax, though.
RAlex -
>One thing I am trying is to heat wax and paint the strip ...
I tried that too, on my top bar hives. I quit 'cause it was too much work and they didn't seem to me to care that much. They did just as well,if not better, without it. I really am fine with that.
-j
[ August 01, 2006, 01:16 AM: Message edited by: jim b ]