I'm replacing foundation with empty frames to let them do it on their own, but I've found they do a much better job if I rotate foundationless frames into the brood frames after they've drawn out foundation. They really don't like having the empty frames or frames in the center of the hive and draw it out very quickly. When I let them do it their own way, they would start everything straight, but when they got to the outside frames, they would draw comb too far to get the frames out without cutting the comb and leaking honey all over everything. The bees would clean it up, but it took all summer to get that hive to have uniform comb from side to side. I also cross wired the deep frames as everyone seems to agree that freshly drawn comb is very fragile and it breaks off easily when you are doing hive checks , especially if the weather is hot. Wiring the frames seems to have taken care of this for me. If you are using all medium equipment, this may not be an issue and I'm not wiring my supers because I may be doing crush and strain and/or comb honey to harvest.
I don't know how many hive you will have. I only have two and a nuc. If I had 10 or more hives, I think keeping them drawing straight foundation from the get go would require a LOT of work and be very messy. You can always use the foundation comb to bait swarm traps or just have on hand if you need it. You can't have too much drawn comb when you are starting!
As for using regular frame, I do and glue the wide Popsicle sticks in the groove. Works fine.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck and have fun!
BB
I don't know how many hive you will have. I only have two and a nuc. If I had 10 or more hives, I think keeping them drawing straight foundation from the get go would require a LOT of work and be very messy. You can always use the foundation comb to bait swarm traps or just have on hand if you need it. You can't have too much drawn comb when you are starting!
As for using regular frame, I do and glue the wide Popsicle sticks in the groove. Works fine.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck and have fun!
BB
