Drone And Worker Wax Foundaion

[Millet]

Why is the option there to buy drone or worker wax foundation when the bees will do what they want (need) to do anyway..

 

[Hivemaker.]

Try using only drone foundation in your brood boxes next spring and see what they do.

 

[Millet]

What about home made wax flat foundation. ?

 

[Hivemaker.]

What about no foundation?

 

[Beefriendly]

Then it becomes Daliesque.....

 

[Millet]

What about no foundation?

Hell yeh.. what about no frames haha

 

[Millet]

Then it becomes Dali esque.....

You have lost me there which is not hard to do haha.

 

[Beefriendly]

No intention to loose you...when you give bees the freedom to draw comb as they want it, it goes all over the place. in surreal shapes...which is very similar to Salvador Dali's type of paintings.

 

[alfazer]

Used in a honey super, you'll get more honey and less wax because you have fewer cell walls but the cells are bigger.

I think drone cells are also be a winner at the honey show for cut comb or frame exhibit, all other things being equal.

 

[Beefriendly]

With the bees I keep, drone sized cells in supers are the very last cells to be filled with honey. My bees seem to ignore them.
Every winter I go through my supers and destroy any that have drone sized cells in them. Probably just the type of bees I keep, but this avoidance of filling drones sized cells is very pronounced.

 

[Plenty of honey]

Why is the option there to buy drone or worker wax foundation when the bees will do what they want (need) to do anyway..

There are some beekeepers who buy drone comb for a couple of uses, one for wax foundation in honey supers and two, to augment the drone population in their colonies. Bees will do this a certain amount for themselves Build there own, however, the difference in foundation less colonies is quite different they "build in: a lot more drone cells. . In managed colonies with all worker foundation in worker size combs there is generally considerable less drones produced, and if theres a colony that has a propensity to produce more drone comb in a colony with worker foundation installed, often bees will build a "raft" of elevated drone comb, sometimes on a corner, or at each end of the colony. sometimes it hanging off the middle of the bottom 3 frames, its like them saying we dont want this size here we want the larger size here, so as you've given up one size , were going to overbuild this with the size we prefer here. Its not always like that but generally thats what seems to happen. Nucleus colonies produce very little drones. older colonies, slow to build up in the spring seem to produce a lot more prior to swarming. well thats what i find.
its also hinted as being one of the reasons why generally there seems to be a shortage of drones for spring and summer mating. Bees build more worker comb due to our intervention of adding worker foundation, so they dont produce as many drones as they would in a wild or feral foundation-less colonies. Sure thats probably not the only reason theres less drones around, but its one of the arguments.

If your augmenting your drone population, you can stick in a frame of drone foundation 40 days before you require the drones, then within that 40 days they will lay up the comb and then you really should move it to the edge of the nest, where its normally found.
Often in normal worker combs the bees love to build a few drone combs so they build up and combine 2 worker cells to make one drone cell. Obviously the classic example is a laying worker colony. Look at the come they change to suit the drones they produce. Its a bit of a mess usually.
Drone comb in the honey supers will mean you can get a little bit more honey in each super ,as the cell size is wider, over the whole surface are of each frame but theres not much in it, you still need honey to fill the supers in the first place.

 

[Hivemaker.]

With the bees I keep, drone sized cells in supers are the very last cells to be filled with honey. My bees seem to ignore them.

They don't like them here either, and for that reason neither do I in honey supers.

 

[Beefriendly]

There are some beekeepers who buy drone comb for a couple of uses, one for wax foundation in honey supers and two, to augment the drone population in their colonies. Bees will do this a certain amount for themselves Build there own, however, the difference in foundation less colonies is quite different they "build in: a lot more drone cells. . In managed colonies with all worker foundation in worker size combs there is generally considerable less drones produced, and if theres a colony that has a propensity to produce more drone comb in a colony with worker foundation installed, often bees will build a "raft" of elevated drone comb, sometimes on a corner, or at each end of the colony. sometimes it hanging off the middle of the bottom 3 frames, its like them saying we dont want this size here we want the larger size here, so as you've given up one size , were going to overbuild this with the size we prefer here. Its not always like that but generally thats what seems to happen. Nucleus colonies produce very little drones. older colonies, slow to build up in the spring seem to produce a lot more prior to swarming. well thats what i find.
its also hinted as being one of the reasons why generally there seems to be a shortage of drones for spring and summer mating. Bees build more worker comb due to our intervention of adding worker foundation, so they dont produce as many drones as they would in a wild or feral foundation-less colonies. Sure thats probably not the only reason theres less drones around, but its one of the arguments.
.

That might explain their reluctance to fill drone cells in supers. If there is a perceived shortage of drones within a colony due to us using worker foundation then possibly they leave empty the drone sized cells in supers hoping her highness will fill them....but as above QX they only get filled with honey when no space left elsewhere.

 

[Millet]

What would happen if some new fellow ( Not me filled the full hive with drone foundation) would the bees slowly die of as they is no workers getting made.

 

[Poly Hive]

I have used drone foundation in the BB's and very successful it is too.

Personally I think CC with DF looks utterly crap but that of course is my thoughts and a honey judge might say otherwise.



PH

 

[Swarm]

I have used drone foundation in the BB's and very successful it is too.

Personally I think CC with DF looks utterly crap but that of course is my thoughts and a honey judge might say otherwise.



PH

Seen it alongside my normal cut comb and I can only agree with you.

 

[Erichalfbee]

What would happen if some new fellow ( Not me filled the full hive with drone foundation) would the bees slowly die of as they is no workers getting made.

Might the bees refashion it?

 

[Millet]

Might the bees refashion it?

That is what i was thinking but i will not be trying it to find out.