I was speaking with a beekeeper a long time ago who told me not to buy plastic frames from Mann Lake but if I did he said: "at least don't get the yellow ones."
I was considering switching over to black frames but don't know if the color means anything to the bees themselves. Anyone know?
If you are grafting, the black frames provide a background that makes it easier to see. I do not know whether the bees have a preference, as I have never had plastic frames other than either yellow or white.
I've got enough of the yellow plastic frames to fill a dozen double deeps, most of them deployed in hives at this point. After the comb is built, and a few rounds of brood comes out of it, they look just like any other frames, comb starting to get dark. I've got one in particular squirreled away in the freezer, it's had _at least_ a dozen rounds of brood raised over the 3 summers it's spent in the brood nest. I plan to use it in my mother hive when it's time to think about grafting, will set it into the middle of the brood nest so my superstar queen will lay it up. Cant see any of the yellow at the bottom of the combs in that one, it's pretty dark, not sure having black underneath would make any difference at this point.
I cant see the color making a big difference after it's been in the hive for some time. Maybe when brand new, but not after a couple years.
I have met some people who strongly believe it matters to the bees. My guess is they just happened to use a particular color in a dearth or a flow and drew their conclusions as a result. I don't think the bees care. White is eaiser to sort honey by color. Black is easier to see eggs.
Another advantage of light plastic frames is you can see the beetles hiding in the groves of the frame, and allot of the time the SHB just sits there, giving you time to grab your hive tool.
I have both yellow and black plastic frames, first so many people say not t but plastic but I haven't seen any difference yet, the bee's build them out, the queens lay eggs in them. I do like the black for in my deeps because you can see the eggs better with the darker background.
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