Plastic frames

[the naked beekeeper]

I've been looking at plastic frames recently and I'm quite attracted to them.

Robust.
Easy to clean.
Quick to wax and re-wax.
No need to wire.

I can see two types of plastic frame available.

The frame itself, with plastic struts as a support, into which you insert foundation.
And the frame with the whole plastic foundation embossed in.

I would very much like to hear peoples' experiences of them.

For instance, with the full frame, plastic foundation and everything..do the bees still make enough drone/queen cells? As with a normal wax foundation, they can doctor it to their needs.

Does the fact they cannot chew holes through the foundation where they would like it, hinder the colony in any way?

Thanks for all reviews.

 

[Hivemaker.]

And the frame with the whole plastic foundation embossed in.

And so natural for the bees.

 

[the naked beekeeper]

And foundation is pure, clean, bees wax that you put into your hive?

 

[Nic Rhodes]

I am trialing some this year... the all in one black ones....

 

[Tom Bick]

And foundation is pure, clean, bees wax that you put into your hive?

Yes if you get it from the right source

Or just let the bees fill in the frames with no foundation.

 

[MuswellMetro]

well i have some and almost impossible to clean for reuse and the old wax is well into the innards..too many nook and voids for bugs in my opinion...small hive beetle would have a field day

 

[tidymeup]

I really liked my plastic super frames to start with but after using them more and more I am not quite as keen. They twist and warp when spun which causes the comb to come loose.

They also loose their shape when applying wax and because of that they don't draw them correctly resulting in unbalanced frames when extracting.

I am using the whole black plastic frames.

 

[Poly Hive]

Sit and have a wee think here.

How many of the big boys use them?

Not a one that I know of.

It's fools gold.

If it looks and sounds too good to be true....

Bargepole comes to mind.

And further there are plastic frames. And there is plastic foundation: it is foundation that is under discussion.

PH

 

[Bates]

The snap together frames are no good, they warp as you said and the wax moth like to get in between the cavity.

I do not know any suppliers in the UK that provide full plastic national frames? Otherwise I would be buying them. I work for large operations in Australia that use them, the advantages being is with SHB any slime outs they are able to scrape and rewax to use again but anything wooden and wax needs to go in the fire. They also last a lifetime if you get the good quality ones (NZ frames) do not blow out in extractors and provide a lovely workable brood nest.

Having used them in thousands and thousands of hives I can see the pros.

 

[Bates]

Sorry for double post here is a photo of foundation I brought back from Australia and cut down for National. This is a photo after a day drawing in the super, it is now down in the brood nest and is doing far better than any other frame with the cells being consistant.

 

[Mike a]

I really liked my plastic super frames to start with but after using them more and more I am not quite as keen. They twist and warp when spun which causes the comb to come loose. They also loose their shape when applying wax and because of that they don't draw them correctly resulting in unbalanced frames when extracting. I am using the whole black plastic frames.

So like Bates above I then bought plastic foundation (lang and national) and put it into wooden frames.
See this post

 

[johnandyrob]

Where did you get it ?

 

[oliver90owner]

I thought that both types - plastic frames and plastic frames complete with foundation include were bing discussed as per the OP quote:

I can see two types of plastic frame available.

The frame itself, with plastic struts as a support, into which you insert foundation.
And the frame with the whole plastic foundation embossed in.

I don't like it when some poster tries to limit the discussion. Makes me think there is some motive somewhere (unless the OP was not read properly). A wee think makes me believe the only thing not under discussion, in the OP, was plastic foundation sheets - until Bates came along. I have used that plastic foundation in supers and it works OK at times, but for several reasons I don't like it particularly. May be better for brood, but not found any to use 'one piece' 14 x 12.

RAB

 

[Nic Rhodes]

I am also trialing foundation sheet, from thorne$

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Maybe we should ask for some input from ChrisB - he uses both the black plastic all in one frame/foundation and the 'snap in' type plastic foundation seems to be happy with both. I think he would be in a better position than me to discuss pros/cons.

 

[flemage]

I have used the plastic foundation which fits in wooden frames. I did look for an all in one frame and foundation in plastic for national but couldnt find any.

I realy like them, i had a swarm last year which drew them out for me and they are used as brood frames.

from my limited experiance i would say they are slow to draw out, some times you get comb drawn at a right angle to the face of the foundation (not sure why) but i just scrap it down and they sort it out.

From the number of mis-shaped, holed, and other wise abused frames of wired wax foundation i have, i will be looking to get more in plastic.

I do have a concern about transmition of communication ie piping of queens and how this works through wax v plastic.

As for artifical that could sum up most of our hives and frames.

just my two pennys worth....

 

[Jeff Buzz]

I have used the plastic clip together frames for cut outs. If I get any large chunks of brood or stores I just lay them on one half of the frame, clip the top on and trim any that sticks out the outside of the frame
Give the bees something to make there new home seem ...I don't know.. more homely if you know what I mean.

 

[the naked beekeeper]

Indeed it was plastic frames in all their guises that I was asking about.
Frame only and frame with plastic foundation.

I note that F. Ratnieks uses plastic in preference.

I'm not bothered about what the big boys use, so much as interested in direct experience. Amateur beekeeper or experienced beekeeper. Experience is valued.

I dare say that when listening to opinions in beekeeping, you get them framed by particulars and circumstance. And as such, my situation is distinctly different from that of a bee farmer. ie. In it for the maximum profit.

Of course I want good husbandry and smooth manipulations, but that the commerical people don't use them, doesn't matter.

These looked interesting:

 

[roymichaeldean]

Lateral thoughts

Hi

I have used the MB black plastic frames for almost 2 years but have no experience of the wood ones with foundation.
I have thought about whether it would be an improvement to use the wooden ones and insert the foundation etc, and it seems to me I should look at this from the bees point of view. In my experience the bees draw out foundation, lay eggs and do everything you would expect so what does it really matter if wood or plastic........the bees obviously aren't concerned.
If I look at it from my point of view, it only takes 2 minutes to coat the plastic frames and they will last for years so nothing to buy in the future, and I could even sell the wax.....
As far as bending is concerned, when they were delivered one or two were slightly bent but I just bent them straight again............is there anything more to say on that issue..???
Within the hive they are stable, they do not deform...........
I have yet to clean any of them or extract honey etc.................but it just looks like a normal process at this stage.........no different to wood frames.

Hope that helps

roy

 

[steve1958]

How goes the plastic frames/foundation Roy.
I have just purchased 10 frames to try in one of my Hives.
I was impressed with the fact that the whole thing comes as one unit.
From what I can see I just coat with melted wax
Allow to cool
and then pop in the Hive and the Bees draw it out.

I am a little anxious as to what will happen come Harvest time
as I have a vision of the wax coming away from the plastic in the spinner!

Hopefully it wont.
I know people think replacing wood and wax foundation with plastic is strange,
but at one time I thought replacing wood with PolyHives strange.