black pierco plastic

[NewbeeNnc]

This year I got two packages and thought I would try one with crimpwire, and one with black pierco. I must say comparing the two, the black pierco is doing great. I love it because it's so easy to see the eggs. They have not had any problems filling it out either. I did put a frame spacer in this one and they are packing it full of honey.

What does everyone else think about the plastic on here? Any bad stories?

[Sundance]

You'll likely get as many opinions as beekeepers....

I like pierco myself. Sometimes they draw it out somewhat
wild and also miss the corners. I have found that by rubbing
extra old brood comb wax on the perimeter and spraying with
homemade HBH (honey be healthy) they draw it out faster
and more uniform.

The black pierco is hard to beat in the brood chamber for seeing
eggs for sure.

[bnatural]

It is all I have used for the past few years (and white Pierco in the supers). No problems with having the bees use it.

Just had a thread on the fact that I have a lot of burr/bridge comb connecting frames between boxes. It was pointed out that the top bars are different (thinner) on plastic frames in general and they violate the bee space, so the bees build comb in between. It was also pointed out that Bee Culture published a table some years back showing which frames worked better with the boxes from different manufacturers (I don't have the table, unfortunately). Tomorrow, I am going to measure the space between some boxes and see if that is, indeed, the problem.

Otherwise, I love the stuff.

Bill

[Rob Renneker]

I have quite a few of the one piece pierco frames as well and I like them a lot. My main concern is that the spaces around the top and side bar could be a place for the SHB to hide.

[MapMan]

Black Pierco is great - eggs show up very well. If you want faster acceptance, even though the plastic is supposed to be already wax coated, go ahead and paint on another coat of beeswax - I've found that the bees will draw out the foundation 2-3 times more quickly than just with the factory coating.

MM

[BEES4U]

Here are some major advantages of using the plastic.
1. No assembly.
2. No need for a staple gun or the compressor to power it.
3. Insect proof.
4. The plastic can be used after bear damage.
5. It can be stored without damage to the wax foundation because there is nome.
6. More worker cells per frame compared to wooden frames.
7. The frame can be sanitized.
8. The plastic can be an insulation against heat and or cold. --that's my opinion.
9. No metal to tear up your fingers when you are doing frame manipulations.
10. The frame fits your index finger and thumb better than wood bound frames.
That's 10 good ones!
Ernie

[giant pumpkin peep]

Black Pierco is great - eggs show up very well. If you want faster acceptance, even though the plastic is supposed to be already wax coated, go ahead and paint on another coat of beeswax - I've found that the bees will draw out the foundation 2-3 times more quickly than just with the factory coating.

MM

How do you give it another coating? Probly will use waxed peirco for honey supers.

[mgmoore7]

For Brood:
Of the various foundations, frames and fully plastic frames I have used, at this point I like wooden frames with black pierco plastic foundation.

For Honey Supers:
I have not tried much else in the supers but do have a some frames with white peirco and they have the advantage of be able to easily be scraped clean of pollen which is necessary to keep the wax moth and SHB out when the supers are stored.

[Carl F]

Just had a thread on the fact that I have a lot of burr/bridge comb connecting frames between boxes. It was pointed out that the top bars are different (thinner) on plastic frames in general and they violate the bee space... Tomorrow, I am going to measure the space between some boxes and see if that is, indeed, the problem.

Bill

One of the problems with bee space between boxes comes from the depth of the rabbets for the frame rests. The rabbets in some boxes may be deeper than others. If the rabbets are deeper, the bee space will be on top of the top bars for that box. If the rabbets are shallower (top bars are flush to top of box) the bee space will be in the bottom of that box. If you have boxes that you got at different times from different manufacturers, you may have more or less than ideal bee space depending on how they are stacked.

I think you will find that most frames have the same outside dimmensions even if the top or bottom bars varry in thickness.

[Sundance]

My main concern is that the spaces around the top and side bar could be a place for the SHB to hide.

I worried about the SHB hiding problem as well. Then after some
thought I came to the conclusion that the spaces in the frames
are a fraction of the space of empty comb.

[MapMan]

How do you give it another coating? Probly will use waxed peirco for honey supers.

I just heat some beeswax up in an old crock pot and brush it onto the plastic foundation. Don't need a lot or an even coating - they just seem to accept and build much faster on frames when I coat the plastic again.

MM