Rite Cell Foundation

[castanea]

Pro's and Cons
Advice for 1st time users of Rite Cell. Effect in the hive. How to prepare the frames for introducing into the hive.

 

[Poly Hive]

None.

It's an American product so unlikely to do well in the UK esp Scotland as other plastic foundation products have a poor track record up here.

In France goodness knows but personally if it sounds too good to be true.....

PH

 

[Bee Bumble]

It is heavy compared to wax so when you lift down your top (third or fourth) Dadant shallow full of honey you will need to be strong.
The bees draw it out well enough but I find the wax the bees draw onto the pre-waxed frames tends to tear off when uncapping with a fork or a heather honey loosener and sometimes when spinning in the extractor.
Perhaps if you get it unwaxed it may be better.
Also, if you ever want to melt the wax in an Apimelter etc, you may be in trouble - you would have to scrape the wax off instead.
I shall not be buying anymore.

 

[madasafish]

Used it on supers this year first time. No issues I could see.

 

[castanea]

Has anybody tried it in the brood box ?

 

[tidymeup]

Hi,

I have 2500 plastic frames, be it complete frames or foundation and I am very happy with how it has preformed.

like any drawing of foundation bees won't do it unless there are resources available for them to produce wax. the only downside is when adding it under such situations or if they change and bees rob the wax.

you can get around this in two ways by adding the foundation when there is a flow or likely to be a flow. and also by adding some extra wax to the foundation so they can pull it out.

Make sure you pick a frame or foundation that can handle some heat without warping.

 

[colinc]

Only 3 hives so nothing like numbers above but all my frames are ritecell. No issues seen. I haven't ripped cells from base when uncapping. You can spin frames fast without spinning out the comb. All good for me.
Light transmission through brood frame is lost as foundation is black but I started with it so am used to it. Also I hear that if you offer ritecell and wax foundation in the same box they will prefer to draw the wax. Not sure if this applies between boxes. So will they ignore a box of plastic if they have an available box of wax foundation? I don't know


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[TooBee...]

Hi

you've kind of touched upon the question I was searching through the forum for an answer to.

If I use Beeswax foundation in my Brood box but then when the nectar flow properly starts I then add a Super box on top with waxed Plastic foundation, will the bees be willing to draw out the wax? - plastic and wax foundation in the same hive, but in different boxes.

Or will they only use the waxed Plastic foundation in the Super as an absolute last resort, and fill up the Brood frames fully with honey before moving onto the Super ... would that not mean that the queen would have no empty cells to lay in?

 

[Anduril]

None.

It's an American product so unlikely to do well in the UK esp Scotland as other plastic foundation products have a poor track record up here.

In France goodness knows but personally if it sounds too good to be true.....

PH

Mike Waite the bee man uses plastic foundation and he's in Scotland.

 

[kevrhcfag]

Mine drew it fine, if you go on the American forums the trick seems to be not to goive the bees a choice, i.e dont mix Ritecell and Normal Foundation as the bees will always draw the normal. I put frames in brood nest with normal wax and bees drew them no problems. It will be the same in supers but some bees need encouragement to draw normal foundation up there anyway.

 

[TooBee...]

Mine drew it fine, if you go on the American forums the trick seems to be not to goive the bees a choice, i.e dont mix Ritecell and Normal Foundation as the bees will always draw the normal. I put frames in brood nest with normal wax and bees drew them no problems. It will be the same in supers but some bees need encouragement to draw normal foundation up there anyway.

Hi, thanks for that feedback, it's very helpful.

So if I put wax foundation in the Brood and Plastic in the Super they should be ok with it. Suppose I'll have to try it and see.

It certainly seems a good idea, the plastic foundation doesn't need to be wired, appears easier and quicker at fitting to the Frames, and the purchase is one of, instead of every year with wax foundation - as long as you recycle your own wax. Apparently saving time and money over the longer term

 

[Hebeegeebee]

" instead of every year with wax foundation "
? Every year ?

 

[TooBee...]

" instead of every year with wax foundation "
? Every year ?

I thought we were supposed to replace our combs once they had been used by the bees two or three times: they fill the first Super box with honey (hopefully), this is removed and replaced with a second Super with only wax foundation, you extract the honey from the first, then add it back to the hive, between the second Super and the Brood, I thought we could re-use comb like this twice or maybe three times if the harvest is good, but it should be new foundation each year. Am I wrong? Can you over winter comb outside the hive, and re-use it many times, if so how many?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Apparently saving time and money over the longer term

I have no experience of using plastic foundation, but there is an interesting post below from someone who does.
https://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=250957&postcount=22

 

[drex]

I rotate out brood comb on about a three years cycle. I do not change out super comb unless the bees have become creative with it. I run double brood and only ever get honey in the supers.

 

[Bosleeu]

I find that it works very well in broodboxes and supers. The bees draw it out well, they are great for extraction and not very expensive. I haven't bought any wax foundation for 3 seasons.

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[TooBee...]

I have no experience of using plastic foundation, but there is an interesting post below from someone who does.
https://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=250957&postcount=22

The Link that you provided to that Post in the Thread entitled "Plastic Frames" was EXTREMELY helpful and insightful.

Thank you very much

 

[Gas]

I’ve used rite cell foundation from Mann lake for several years now in my 40 national hives and I find it very easy to work with. I’ve not used wax foundation for 4 years now.

The bees like it but like others have mentioned, if you mix and match in the same box they draw out wax first every time. If I use to mix and match I found if you put all the plastic together side by side and all the wax frames together side by side in the same box that’s good and works well. (Obviously wax and plastic will be next to each other at some point )

I am moving some hives over to 14x12 next year and plastic rite cell is not available for that size I don’t think so I’ll be forced back to wax or I’ll try the frame and skewer trick perhaps.

 

[Helen]

I'm moving my bees across to plastic. About 2/3rds now rite-cell - for both supers and brood. Some bees take a bit more effort to draw them out, others are happy with them.

I run 14x12, so have cut a national brood one in half and staple it to the full one above. Unfortunately, this means that there is a slight lip, and the bees often build comb below the 'line' just off the foundation leaving a small gap between comb and rite-cell. I need to figure out a way to securely butt them up together so they don't cause this issue.

 

[Helen]

I am moving some hives over to 14x12 next year and plastic rite cell is not available for that size I don’t think so I’ll be forced back to wax or I’ll try the frame and skewer trick perhaps.

Frame & skewer trick?