Reminds me of SWMBO during our honeymoonwe have lots of regulations down under.
Why ? Why would it be illegal not to use foundation? That's bonkers....The law here requires foundation in the frames...we have lots of regulations down under.
I'm guessing it is so frames can be removed easily by apiary officers, for disease and pest inspections (varroa, SHB, AFB etc )... See photo and comment in post #36.Why ? Why would it be illegal not to use foundation? That's bonkers....
It will probably end in a mess..The bes will probably workd down from teh top bar and steal the wax from your sheet to do so.
But I am guessing. I would not do it except as an experiment...
Why not try fixing a starter strip to the top bar instead?
If you put your sheets of foundation tacked to the top bar then they will build down on it .. dribble a bit of beeswax all along the underside of the top bar and the will follow that and the foundation. They won't generally get creative if the top of the frames are mostly filled with foundation - indeed, even a couple of inches of starter strip under the top bars is usually enough to send them in the right direction downwards in line with the frames and once they start off OK at the top gravity appears to be the main guide they use.Dont have any drawn frames, will be a free for all
Thanks , that's what I've done, put in the skewers as reinforcement then glued the wax sheet in using molten wax along the top bar , it seems very sturdy. I didnt want to buy foundation at £23 per 10 since I will be scraping the whole lot out .now I've got the hang of it ,itl be plain sailing. I got the wax to make the sheets from livemoor.If you put your sheets of foundation tacked to the top bar then they will build down on it .. dribble a bit of beeswax all along the underside of the top bar and the will follow that and the foundation. They won't generally get creative if the top of the frames are mostly filled with foundation - indeed, even a couple of inches of starter strip under the top bars is usually enough to send them in the right direction downwards in line with the frames and once they start off OK at the top gravity appears to be the main guide they use.
Does it have to be a full sheet of foundation? I use just 1" or even less and my bees do not complain.The law here requires foundation in the frames...we have lots of regulations down under.
I've been foundationless since I started ... you get the occasional wonky comb - but what you don't do is give them a box of empty frames and let them get on with it - because they will get very creative as they have done there. If you give them drawn frames either side of the ones that are foundationless - or even foundation either side - then they will normally draw reasonably straight comb.
Nothing much wrong with these .. a few pockets and twists and turns but reasonably straight and without any assistance from foundation:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99514363@N06/albums/72157636257703495
No, I don't think so. From memory, some state/s here have laws detailing a specific depth of foundation. Our law here in Tas makes no mention of a required depth. All state beekeeping laws are different of course. For instance, as I understand it, in Vic., you must be registered, but you don't here yet (there was a period of time when we did), and once you have more than 50 hives here, you have to do a courseDoes it have to be a full sheet of foundation? I use just 1" or even less and my bees do not complain.
This is a bit from the South Aussie law for instance.
• specifically designed, constructed, operated and maintained so as to have easily removable frames; including being fitted with sufficient frames of the required type and size, with frames to comprise of a minimum of a continuous straight strip of foundation extending to within 10 mm of each end bar, and downwards at least 20 mm
Yeah, this is from the Tasmanian legislation...I assume the law is intended to prevent cross-combing, which in turn would prevent inspection for disease. The same logic is used to ban the use of skeps in USA.
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