Using starter strips - is it a recipe for disaster?

[Tom Bick]

Quick question, those of you who run foundationless, is this just in the super or in the brood box as well? and if so do you wire the frames?
Dan.

More or less the same as fatshark but I only use two horizontal wires on brood frames and when the bees decide to work round one I simply run my hive tool along the wire to scratch the comb and this encourages the bees to repair the comb and incorporate the wire.

 

[Bosleeu]

I use foundationless frames in Standard national broodboxes a lot. No wire or fishing line. I think in four years of doing this I had two frames where the come broke due to me being too clumsy. The bees seem the love them. In 14x12 frames they definitely need wire or fishing line.

As said above it works well in a bait hive as well . It is interesting to see how the bees draw out a brood nest from scratch so to speak.

 

[Erichalfbee]

but will there be a problem with collapsing frames with gentle spinning in a radial extractor?

No problem. You can spin them. I have accidentally started to uncap unwired combs!!!!!! before noticing so had to finish the job and spin. They were OK. THIS year all the top bars are marked

 

[Teemore]

No problem. You can spin them. I have accidentally started to uncap unwired combs!!!!!! before noticing so had to finish the job and spin. They were OK. THIS year all the top bars are marked

Likewise. I will still spin out any unwired frames that only have a small portion of capped honey. It'll be easier for the bees to work with next time around.

 

[pargyle]

I'm on 14 x 12 but I use stainless steel wire and three horizontal strands, not starter strips just a triangular bead of timber painted with beeswax as a starter. No problem, all very secure and I'd have no concerns about spinning them (if I ever get to the stage where an extractor becomes necessary ! Next year perhaps ...) The bees seem to be very happy with this arrangement, never had a problem with them not incorporating the wires but HM tends not to lay in cells where the wires are - they still fill them with stores though.

 

[BeeJayBee]

One thing I've noticed is that they will draw the comb they want rather than what I expect, and may not continue down to the bottom bars. I don't know if it's for communication, or whether they decide they don't need 'that much' comb. It means that some reinforcement of brood combs is important, especially the lower third of the frame - but I haven't tried using only one piece of wire/fishing line because it's as easy to add three.

Shallow honey frames don't always need to be reinforced, I've only had a couple part company with the frame and that was my fault because I tried to spin them too quickly. That's in a tangential extractor, I don't know what happens in a radial.