Wax or plastic foundation poll

[Rivachaz]

Hi, Everyone ,

Could all of you let me and other know Via this poll , what do most people prefer for foundation - natural wax or waxed plastic foundation, starter strips or no foundation ?

This question applies to both the brood and super foundation, and the overall opinion regarding costs difference, bee acceptance, honey yields, ease of extraction, and long terms running costs etc.

Take all of these into account for your poll response.

No hidden reason for the poll to ask what people prefer to use, it’s just to show newcomers as to what options are out there for them to use.

 

[Damo944]

Wired sheets for me across the board.
I use mainly 14x12s and had some sucess with the frames and feeders frames and will look at moving another 4 hives over this season. Also picked up a few standard plastic sheets to try this year.
But if I had to pick one its the wax sheets. Ask again next season and it might be different.

 

[pargyle]

Firstly.... why ? Is there a reason behind the poll ?

Secondly, what about those like me who work their hives without foundation and those who just use starter strips of foundation ?

Not a very useful poll ... except for curiosity purposes or you have some reason to find out who is using plastic or wax foundation ?

Perhaps an explanation might give you more replies ....

 

[hemo]

The Poll doesn't include foundationless as Philip has eluded to, a few of us prefer foundationless for brood & super. The bees then decide which cell size they need for the brood and when they need them , in the super I always get worker cell size .

I can't vote .

 

[Rivachaz]

Firstly.... why ? Is there a reason behind the poll ?

Secondly, what about those like me who work their hives without foundation and those who just use starter strips of foundation ?

Not a very useful poll ... except for curiosity purposes or you have some reason to find out who is using plastic or wax foundation ?

Perhaps an explanation might give you more replies ....

Just added two other options

 

[Rivachaz]

The Poll doesn't include foundationless as Philip has eluded to, a few of us prefer foundationless for brood & super. The bees then decide which cell size they need for the brood and when they need them , in the super I always get worker cell size .

I can't vote .

Just added a few more options

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

wired foundation in the deeps, unwired in the shallows. The belief that you need to have wired foundation in the shallows if you are mechanically extracting is a myth, many of my shallow frames have unwired thin foundation (why pay extra for the 'normal' stuff) and not one has blown thus far

 

[Rivachaz]

wired foundation in the deeps, unwired in the shallows. The belief that you need to have wired foundation in the shallows if you are mechanically extracting is a myth, many of my shallow frames have unwired thin foundation (why pay extra for the 'normal' stuff) and not one has blown thus far

That’s interesting , where is the best online shop to get foundation from ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Same here.
Thin unwired in supers
Wired in brood

 

[Garry R]

Own made foundation -wired for brood and unwired for supers. Foundationless with a little strip for comb.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

That’s interesting , where is the best online shop to get foundation from ?

depends on how much you're buying. I buy mine in bulk from Maisemores (their wax is very good, never had issues with it) so I get the full 20% discount

 

[Paulypaul]

Plastic foundation seems to be very popular in the USA. Does anyone know why it's taken off there?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Plastic foundation seems to be very popular in the USA. Does anyone know why it's taken off there?

some use it, I knew of a few commercials use it especially on OSR as they could, if it had crystalised, just scrape it all off into an apimelter and reuse

 

[Anduril]

Wax sheets for me, if you feed a swarm with wax foundation the sheets are drawn out very quickly, all eleven frames within a week. Starter strips take longer and foundationless longer again in my experience. I was given one of the new BS plastic frames from frames and feeders. I didn't feed this time as there was a strong flow on and it was fully drawn by the end of the season (2 months), admittedly I used it in a double nuc.

 

[rossbyjove]

Plastic foundation seems to be very popular in the USA. Does anyone know why it's taken off there?

They seem to have a habit of making poor decisions but we are fast catching up.

 

[Anduril]

Just for reference, the 2nd and 3rd pictures were taken in August 2 weeks after placing into nuc. The top and bottom pictures were taken in September.

 

[Rivachaz]

depends on how much you're buying. I buy mine in bulk from Maisemores (their wax is very good, never had issues with it) so I get the full 20% discount

That’s good info- how much quantity qualifies for the 20% discount ?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Two hundred quid's worth IIRC

 

[Rivachaz]

Two hundred quid's worth IIRC

- Do you change out the foundation every couple of years ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

- Do you change out the foundation every couple of years ?

I don’t and no sensible person would either.
As far a supers go I have some frames that are 15 years old and still good to go.
Brood frames when they fall apart.