There is absolutely no doubt in my mind...after two generations of messing about with wired foundation in UK style frames that strong prewired frames are the way to go...but then all our non UK friends knew that for a century. Spent a fortune drilling and wiring all our old frames.
The combs are flatter and more robust. No 'bellying' that can happen with wired sheets.
You can rewax them in almost no time when its time to do so. Its a cost at setup time but a huge saving later.
I do not know of ONE supplier of top grade frame wire in the beekeeping supplies system here. Always buy high tensile food grade stainless steel hard drawn wire min thickness 0.35mm...our supplier is Knight Precision Wire. Buy once...have it for the lifetime of the frames. Have some done in our early days with 'frame wire' from a UK supplier.....have been able to stretch out 12 cm from a four wire BS deep, so don't economise on wire.
Bought online brass eyelets are excellent and the Chinese cheap ones are just as good. Even better are stainless steel ones which last a lifetime and never cut through as brass ones can under tension and ageing.. The smaller the bore the better.
Foundation should be cut short. Let the bees attach it especially at the bottom of the frame...makes a flatter and more robust.
When the comb is old just cut it out carefully leaving the wires intact, boil the frames for around 5 mins in a sodium carbonate solution...it removes ALL the wax and propolis and leaves them sterile from EFB (NOT AFB..burn if suspected)
See comment in thread from Antipodes....this is normal...its the UK that are the outlier with our thin split bottom bars and grooved frames, plus considerably more expensive wired foundation.
Three pictures...first are really strong waxed National frames bundled up going off out to a customer...see the gap at the bottom bars..its important for the best results..
Other pic is a several years old Smith frame of ours that was boiled in soda...no scraping whatsoever....rewaxed at about 10 mins per boxful....its fast, efficient...and cheap. Initial investment but long term payback.
Third pic is the fastest way to take any slack out of the wires..squeeze the sidebars in and pin the slack with a drawing pin. Wire crimpers are not good on high tensile wire, and also a good bit slower.
There are now quite a few suppliers of this style of frames.....they are very much worth thinking about.
