Frames & Wax Foundation

[sbisme]

Hi Gang

Just a quick question I have read posts where people advise to build up frames but not to add the wax foundation untill the frames are required apart from the risk of wax moth what are the reasons for this? as you can probably guess I got rather frame making happy and knocked up 30 super frames with foundation which are now stored air tight in my spare supers.

 

[itma]

Probably the main thing is that the foundation dries out a bit, the surface getting harder and less good-smelling (important for the bees).

Foundation is best stored in closed poly bags, flat, somewhere cool, dry and out of the sun. Mine lives in one of the cardboard boxes in the spare bedroom …

Wax moth is most unlikely to be interested in foundation on new frames.

If your foundation does dry out, it can be 'revived' by VERY gentle treatment with a hairdryer. Foundation horizontal on a table (or other FLAT surface) is the normal method; after installing it you might get away with a few gentle wafts while the frame is vertical. All you would be after is a nice "fresh beeswax" smell - not warming it to the point it gets soft!

 

[Hivemaker.]

Hi Gang
Just a quick question I have read posts where people advise to build up frames but not to add the wax foundation untill the frames are required apart from the risk of wax moth what are the reasons for this? as you can probably guess I got rather frame making happy and knocked up 30 super frames with foundation which are now stored air tight in my spare supers.

They will be fine, we start making them up with new wax just after xmas.

 

[REDWOOD]

Any old ones that have lost their colour can be revitalised with a hair dryer, bees don't seem to mind

 

[Swarm]

I always store any unused foundation frames in spare boxes (brood or super) stacked in the shed. Never had a problem with them.

 

[MikeT]

I store mine in an old freezer (not working) in my garage.

 

[sbisme]

Thanks for the reply's not to much to worry about by the looks of it

 

[enrico]

But......having said that, I always have loads of frames made up ready for wax, ie only one bottom bar....leave out the one opposite the removable top bar bit. That way, in a panic mode next year, all I have to do is add sheets of wax a few pins and off I go! You can make loads of these up on a rainy winter day. I store them hanging between two pieces of wood out of the way.
Other than that everything else people have said is fine!
E

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Made up some supers at the association apiary this year where the wax was decidedly dated some foundation having been sat there for a couple of years in a spare super - bees had no issue with using it

 

[Arfermo]

Brushing light sugar syrup on frames with old unused foundation gets the bees excited too. Better still if it's slightly warmed beforehand.