Ok. You save the family's economy with wax strips and fishing lines. That is well done. When you give up from car, you will be rich.
I can tell you, that aroma of honey comes from nectar of flowers. I have not met foundation aroma in honey. When you feed syrup to bees, the stuff is sweet but without aroma.
Coffee colored foundations.... Never seen such beewax, and I do not believe that such beewax exist. I have heard that if wax is handled in rusty iron pots, it takes dark color.
When I melt darkest combs in sun melter, it is always light yellow.
During my 50 years of beekeeping I have not met that bees chew down foundations and carry them out.
It sounds that you have much humbug in bee wax marketing in UK.
Premier standard... We have not such expressions about foundations.
I have seen that in UK frames are almost 3 times so expencive than on Finland and in Sweden. And polyhives have douple price
Beejay, you represented to me an unknown area of beekeeping and its affects on family economy.
I have tried wax strips, but never again. Half of frames were drone combs.
Fishing lines.... Steal wire is not expensive. When you use stronger steal wire, it can used several times and you need not install them again.
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