Comb foundation

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Toadge

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Looking to do some cut comb this year. Can anyone recommend where to buy really thin foundation from? or what the benefits and downfalls of going without foundation are ?. Cheers
 
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When bees draw combs, they need 6-8 kg honey to make one kilo combs.

In langstroth boxes my foundations are 1,0 kg.

Foundation maker takes £3/kg foundations when I bring to him my own wax blocks.

A normal hive has 5 box frames = 5 kg foundations. Without foundations it takes 35 kg extra honey to build combs.

When you have cut comb honey, you loose valuable wax combs in selling.

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I just stick a few foundationless frames (ones which have blown out in the extractor) in a super of drawn comb. The comb will be drawn straight if its between two drawn frames and you increase your chances of actually getting full frames quickly. Repeat over several colonies as necessary.

I only aim to get a few combs as I don't sell any cut comb but keep it for family use and for gifts.
 
"or what the benefits and downfalls of going without foundation are ?. "

The FAQ we get from "tyrekickers" is "... but is it pure wax?".
Probing that usually reveals they believe the comb is a manmade
structure of a form bees fill with honey.
So to only avoid those moments we only select from foundationless
and that only on newly built comb from flows - like n0t comb that
displays lots of foot traffic.

Bill
 
Cheers folks, just looking to do a couple of frames for myself just now and might have a go at the Heather later on. From what I've read I'm either going to have to do cut comb or press the Heather honey out so going to loose the comb no matter what route I take.
 
I find the comb drawn from starter strips to be thinner and more palatable than even thin foundation
So I cut narrow starter strips from a sheet of thin unwired foundation
Alternate 3 or 4 strips frames in between drawn comb in your super to keep them straight
Works best on a strong colony
If you have OSR about near you - wait until it's gone over
 

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