[gman1001]

I've seen FBM (Fat bee man) and many others refer to drone comb when looking at uncapped frames.

Do bees draw comb to be for drones? I know when there is drone brood, the bulbus cappings. But when looking at the drawn unused comb is there a difference between comb drawn for workers and comb drawn for drones?

 

[Rader Sidetrack]

Drone pupa are bigger than worker pupa, and it is not easy for bees to raise drones with normal foundation. That is why there is a drone foundation available with bigger cells. That cell size difference is why - in hives with only normal foundation - bees tend to build burr comb in available spaces where they can, they want to raise drones.

An example of larger drone cells is in the upper right photo.
photo linked from this site.

.

 

[gman1001]

Drone pupa are bigger than worker pupa, and it is not easy for bees to raise drones with normal foundation. That is why there is a drone foundation available with bigger cells. That cell size difference is why - in hives with only normal foundation - bees tend to build burr comb in available spaces where they can, they want to raise drones.

Tx! Wondering. To avoid the burr comb, how many frames should I manipulate the wax foundation to allow for some drones? Or is that discouraged as it will encourage drones all the time? Maybe playing god a bit too much?

 

[Rader Sidetrack]

Have you seen Lauri's photos? Frames with a partial sheet of standard foundation allow the bees to build what they want towards the edges of the frame, and saves on foundation cost, too. This post has some photos:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...9050&highlight=likes+rubber+bands#post1049050

 

[Michael Bush]

>Do bees draw comb to be for drones?

Yes.

>I know when there is drone brood, the bulbus cappings. But when looking at the drawn unused comb is there a difference between comb drawn for workers and comb drawn for drones?

Yes. Natural worker comb runs between 4.4mm and 5.1mm. Natural drone comb runs between 6.0mm and 7.0mm.

 

[Joseph Clemens]

gman1001,

The dimensions that Michael Bush has posted for the different cell sizes, worker size cells and drone size cells, I believe, are measurements from cell wall to the opposite cell wall, inside the cells. They roughly equate to inner cell diameter, though that is not exactly what they are.