I have one hive that im going to set up for this spring and all of the frames are the plastic frame/foundation except for the brood chamber I could wire in the foundation or make things simpler and exchangeable by just buying some plastic frames which would be around 15 dollers.
Kevin:
Wiring frames is only necessary if you plan to extract honey. The centrifugal force from an extractor can cause a blow out when using unwired honey super frames.
Since you are only going to use this foundation for the brood chamber it is not necessary to wire.
Kurt
There is one other use for wire, to hold the wax flat until the bees draw it. If you are going to put deeps with wax in a brood chamber and you put the wax in just before you put the bees on it, you should get by without the wire. If you put the wax in today and don't put the bees on it until a month or two from now, some sheets may buckle or warp and then you have crooked combs. I would just wait until right before you need them and put the foundation in and skip the wiring. If I'm doing a lot ahead I'll put a "X" on with a wire on each side of the sheet and I don't embedd it. If it's a medium I don't wire.
Even in supers, I've gently extracted mediums and shallows with no wire in them with no problems.
[This message has been edited by Michael Bush (edited January 20, 2004).]
Hi,
If it were me and knowing I like to be ready ahead of time. I would skip the wire and use fishing line. Dave Cushmans site discusses using fishing line instead of wiring. But basically I'd use fishing line in and x pattern as Micheal mentions. Most guys got fishin line, I think? You don't need eyelets and its pretty easy and you can use the foundation that you got instead of buying more. Young delicate combs can break loose if handled improperly. You don't want any breaking out when your just startin out. There's enough other things to worry about.
Thanks for the Help!
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