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un-embossd wax foundation, will they use it ?

2K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  jmgi 
#1 ·
hi guys , if i were to make some plain old wax foundation without a cell pattern would the girls draw good comb out on it , or maybe just tear it up and start their own comb instead ?? reason i ask is i need some foundation quick and i have no embosser :(
 
#2 ·
The purpose of using foundation is to help insure all worker sized cells in the comb. Since you would not have worker cell size embossed on your foundation, it would be a lot of work for you that the bees could do faster themselves if there was no foundation in the frames.
 
#3 ·
i really was not concerned about consistent cell size as these would be going directly into an old brood hive that has what i suspect may be some contaminated frames , i have cleaned the hive box it'self and thought maybe the swarm i just caught might benefit from a simple wax sheet to build off of, i was hoping it might help guide their efforts so to speak :)
 
#6 ·
Giving them normal foundation hinders them, so surely flat unembossed sheets would do so. Foundation of any kind prevents the bees from festooning the way they need to when secreting and drawing wax, the way they would do it in the wild or in foundationless frames. John
 
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