Drone comb/Foundationless

[sfisher]

If i go with foundationless frames will the bees build drone all over the place in patches, or will they mainly use one frame?

[Michael Bush]

Typically bees fill the corners and the bottom with drone on most frames and the outside edge of the brood nest with whole combs of drones. But when you insert foundationless in the center of the brood nest this order of things gets messed up a bit as they start out wanting workers and when the "quota" is met, want drones, sometimes you get a comb of drones in the center and I move these to the outside. Where if they were building in sequence they would have already been on the outside.

[SwedeBee1970]

Must be difficult moving the drone comb without a frame. How is it done exactly ?

[sfisher]

I am wanting to get a frame of drone for mite control. Could I use a green drone frame with foundationless frames? Or would the bees just ignore it, and use the foundationless for the drone.

[Velbert]

If no frame will be not so good for moving.... Put you a frame in with no foundation in the no. 8 spot or no. 3 spot if using 10 frame brood nest, about march or april 1st put your empty frame next to the last frame with brood in it. they will 95% of the time build all drone Cell

[Michael Bush]

Bees will always ignore plastic foundation or even wax foundation in favor of their own combs. If you use foundationless there will usually be some frames of almost all drones.

[xC0000005]

Particularly if your bees have been forced to raise primarily workers (plastic or fully drawn comb) you may see them draw out a spurt of drones in order to get the urge to raise a few boys out of the way. Once they do that they settle down and raise workers. I make sure any large drone sections get the hive tool treatment (and then the "fed to chickens" treatment) but the bees tend to try and balance their population with a few drones. All drone frames are the bee's natural way of feeding my chickens and reducing the varroa count in one pass.

[Hambone]

Here are a couple of mine. The outside frames are solid drone cells that were starting to get backfilled with honey. The other frame as you see has a few drone cells on the bottom right, but thats it. The closer into center the frames get the less drone cells there are.

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv223/Derekmeredith/honeycomb026.jpg
http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv223/Derekmeredith/honeycomb028.jpg

[Michael Bush]

>Must be difficult moving the drone comb without a frame. How is it done exactly ?

Foundationless has a frame unless it's in a top bar. Either way you move it the same as any movable comb.