Wax (foundation) damage

[Etton]

Any suggestions of cause for wax damage to this end frame of BB foundation?

 

[oliver90owner]

Bees are likely removing it as it contains a proportion of non-bee wax. Don't buy cheap chinese foundation?

And clearly they don't need the foundation currently - or they would have replaced it with good, or built it into comb if acceptable foundation.

 

[Teemore]

I sometimes see comb nibbling like this when there is no nectar flow or a very weak one. They seem to relocate some of the wax to where they feel they need it...

PS - just looked at the picture again... never had a colony chew wax away from the top bar.

 

[B+.]

I sometimes see comb nibbling like this when there is no nectar flow or a very weak one.

The colony looks quite small to be drawing large amounts of foundation particularly if the nectar flow is intermittent.

 

[pargyle]

Bees are likely removing it as it contains a proportion of non-bee wax. Don't buy cheap chinese foundation?

And clearly they don't need the foundation currently - or they would have replaced it with good, or built it into comb if acceptable foundation.

Yes ... that would be my guess as well .. they clearly don't like it. I don't usually use foundation but I was given a couple of new brood box frames with foundation already fitted - I needed a couple of frames for one of my colonies so I popped them in there as a stop gap ... totally ignored them - built comb anywhere but on the foundation. Took them out, gave them my usual foundationless jobs... built them out in less than a week ...

I'm convinced that a lot of commercially available foundation is cut or contaminated with stuff I don't want my bees playing with.

 

[madasafish]

The foundation looks very thin and not a normal colour.