Plastic frames

[Philip100]

Hi I have some plastic frames that I bought just wondering if I will get away without waxing them?
Anyone had a go and what are the results?
Thanks

 

[B+.]

Hi I have some plastic frames that I bought just wondering if I will get away without waxing them?
Anyone had a go and what are the results?
Thanks

If you put them in during a flow, they'll draw them out perfectly. I have ~800 unwaxed Pierco that were drawn this way.

 

[Philip100]

Brilliant I will feed syrup and put them on that saves me waxing all of them

 

[Earthboy]

Another way is to stagger them between wooden frames. See the pic in TF or NT section.

 

[Philip100]

These are medium langstroth and I haven't got any drawn out

 

[B+.]

These are medium langstroth and I haven't got any drawn out

I'd suggest that you put them in the middle above a queen excluder then. Ideally, as @Earthboy said, put drawn comb between them to get nice even worker cells drawn with no brace comb. If you put lots of plastic foundation together, they may fill it with comb up the middle rather than attached to the midrib. Don't stress it though, you can scrape it back to the midrib if you aren't happy with what they do.

 

[Philip100]

I do have some old not so good frames so they all need renewing so I'll have a go
Thanks

 

[Earthboy]

I do have some old not so good frames so they all need renewing so I'll have a go
Thanks

Being cheap, I love to recycle just about any bee ware I can. But if I were to start anew, I will eschew plastic frames for the following reasons:
1. Any use of plastic of anything in beekeeping disqualifies my operation as being inorganic in US.
2. Since they are too narrow, unlike wooden frames, they tend to come off the groove in my extractor, a pain in the butt at times. Changing the infrastructure inside the extractor would be "a cure that is worse than the disease," or a task where the bellybutton is bigger than the belly.
3. In the event of any major disease outbreak, knock on wood, the burning of the plastic is no good. The toxic fume etc.
4. The cracks in the molding process of Pierco offers hiding places for SHB's when chased by bees, an inadvertent shelter.
5. They tend to warp overtime, especially in summer heat. Hence unfit to reuse.

That said, plastic frames are impervious to wax moths. No assembly is required. Black Pierco makes the eggs stand out a bit better. They tend to be a tad cheaper. If you don't have time to assemble frames, order them (wooden ones, preferably) by the bulk--all assembled--especially during a sale with free shipment.

 

[B+.]

Being cheap, I love to recycle just about any bee ware I can. But if I were to start anew, I will eschew plastic frames for the following reasons:
1. Any use of plastic of anything in beekeeping disqualifies my operation as being inorganic in US.
2. Since they are too narrow, unlike wooden frames, they tend to come off the groove in my extractor, a pain in the butt at times. Changing the infrastructure inside the extractor would be "a cure that is worse than the disease," or a task where the bellybutton is bigger than the belly.
3. In the event of any major disease outbreak, knock on wood, the burning of the plastic is no good. The toxic fume etc.
4. The cracks in the molding process of Pierco offers hiding places for SHB's when chased by bees, an inadvertent shelter.
5. They tend to warp overtime, especially in summer heat. Hence unfit to reuse.

That said, plastic frames are impervious to wax moths. No assembly is required. Black Pierco makes the eggs stand out a bit better. They tend to be a tad cheaper. If you don't have time to assemble frames, order them (wooden ones, preferably) by the bulk--all assembled--especially during a sale with free shipment.

Do you use poly hives in the US? They are very popular here in the UK - but yes, I take your point that burning any petrochemical product is nasty.

 

[Earthboy]

I just searched for Abelo in US, but was unable to locate any seller. We do have one like this:

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/hives/specialty-hives/beemax-items
But I would rather have what you got. I have just one Bee Max I had purchased a decade ago and I carry on my pickup bed year round, for it is so light, the best retrieval box for either swarm or a cutout. Given the shortage of trees, I love to have Abelo, but I still have too many wooden boxes in the storage for maybe 70 colonies in full occupancy.

That said, I also like to replace my telescoping cover (crown board) with white plastic one: no painting, no rotting, and lasting for a great while. But one must always use some insulation underneath regardless if the top is wood or plastic here. I use two inch thick egg carton mattress top, cut in the size of the inner cover with a big vent hole at the center. The insulation stays year round.

 

[B+.]

I just searched for Abelo in US, but was unable to locate any seller. We do have one like this:

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/hives/specialty-hives/beemax-items
But I would rather have what you got. I have just one Bee Max I had purchased a decade ago and I carry on my pickup bed year round, for it is so light, the best retrieval box for either swarm or a cutout. Given the shortage of trees, I love to have Abelo, but I still have too many wooden boxes in the storage for maybe 70 colonies in full occupancy.

That said, I also like to replace my telescoping cover (crown board) with white plastic one: no painting, no rotting, and lasting for a great while. But one must always use some insulation underneath regardless if the top is wood or plastic here. I use two inch thick egg carton mattress top, cut in the size of the inner cover with a big vent hole at the center. The insulation stays year round.

That looks rather like a Swienty box to me.
I'm not sure where you got the idea I had Abelo hives. I don't. I have a mixture of Sweinty, Paradise Honey and wooden hives (Langstroth) but that is getting away from the point you made - if it comes to destruction, you don't want to be around poly hives when they burn!

 

[Earthboy]

Sorry if I misread your post; I must have read what I wanted to read, which happens quite often. Agreed on burning that stuff in no time.

 

[Philip100]

But you could recycle poly into insulation for a shed etc

Plastic frames or poly hives don't you just clean with bleach whereas you would scorch if wooden?

 

[Earthboy]

Phill,

That would be a good way to recycle them in your local, but we, I believe, were talking about the unlikely event of AFB or EFB outbreak, both of which I have never experienced but understand the spores of the former can last for a century or more, dormant. Burning, as the last resort, will stop any portential cross-contamination.