Frames without Foundation
Prone to disintegrate, useful for swarm management, raising queens and drones
Above is a typical frame. It is difficult to see, but there are strands of wire that add rigidity; also note that there is a space around three edges of the comb. No wonder these frames are prone to disintegrate in an extractor.
Bought wax foundation is made from wax procured from bees all over the world. Often multiple chemicals contaminate it.
Contamination of wax foundations (%) in Germany, 2020. Blue bars show active substances not authorised in Germany for agricultural usage. The letters a. b. c. indicate the classification of usage. (a) veterinary, (b) plant protection products, (c) biocides.
Coumaphos (Checkmite) is not used in the UK, and Fluvalinate is rarely used. Thymol (20 mg/kg) breaks the blood brain barrier in mice and could taint honey. Some of these agents applied at field concentrations to plastic and wax foundation had no adverse effect on brood development.
National Bee Supplies claims to sell the purest wax,
The best frames without foundation require three things: a frame, some way of encouraging them to draw straight combs, and some method of strengthening the comb. However, this isn’t true for section honey or from the more “natural” hives like the Layens.
One way to encourage a straight comb is to use a starter strip. This can be made of wood or wax. Use a narrow wood fillet like a tongue depressor or use foundation at least 6 mm deep. Some people use 40 mm of foundation; I don’t know why. Hold the starter strip in place with a dribble of wax.
Alternatively, place the frame between two perfectly drawn combs, in which case a starter strip is unnecessary.
Assembling frames
Care is required when purchasing wooden frames for Paradise hives. Standard ones sold in England have lugs that are generally too long, just a little too long, maybe 2 mm. Hence, you may need to grind the lugs or the runners or buy foreign frames that are wired funny (horizontal or vertical). A bench grinder will remove the excess wood in less than 30 seconds per frame.
Picture showing starter strip and reinforcing wire. Most beekeepers do not use wire in this situation.
Frames without foundation have several advantages: The bees can draw whatever sort of comb they desire (spot the area of drone comb in the top picture). Save money and avoid toxins that may be present in bought foundation.
Here's a video on how NOT to make up frames: English beekeepers put the nails in the top bar from the sides. If the frames are glued, recycling them becomes impossible.
When making up frames the right way, look at the first illustration. The pin positions are shown in red.
If frames without foundation are interposed with plastic and put under the brood box, the bees draw drone brood on the empty frames, whereas they are reluctant to draw it on plastic.
They don’t always draw good-looking combs. Note there are nine queen cups
How to handle frames without foundation
Beekeepers unaccustomed to using these frames usually suffer at least one disaster. The comb is fragile until the bees have completed the frame and the wax has matured. If the frame is tilted towards the horizontal plane, gravity is sufficient to pull the comb off and dump it on the floor as a gooey mess, So lift it up to eye level and risk getting a crick neck. Inspecting the far side of the frame requires a special technique: hold the frame at chest height and lower one hand until the frame is perpendicular to the ground. Swizzle it through 180 degrees, change hands and lift it back to the level.
Climate change threatens the use of these frames in hives without insulation. During scorching weather, i.e. >40 °C, the bees will concentrate on controlling the brood nest’s temperature. Consequently, the wax in the peripheral frames will overheat and sag.
Divert the bees from swarming
If several frames without foundation are placed in the brood nest of a strong colony, it disrupts the brood nest maturity. To achieve this, the frames are interleaved between brood frames. Drawing wax may postpone swarming, so using standard frames works okay. A strong colony (with a sugar feed or nectar flow) will draw them out within a few days. This technique is only possible with a strong colony. If the colony is too small, they will not draw wax. So, choose when the colony is big and still building up.
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Fragile combs
To avoid frames falling apart in a spinner, crush the comb, and strain it through a fine nylon cloth, with the honey at about 44 °C, or through muslin at ambient temperature. The disadvantage is that bees have to draw new combs every year, whereas using drawn combs from previous years results in a larger crop.
Wiring
After pulling one section taught, ram something in the eyelet to hold the wire in position whilst tightening the next section. The critical thing is finding the correct thing to ram in the eyelets, like a small screwdriver (see below.) Some people make gadgets to assist with wiring. Video on wiring frames.
The ends of the wire are wound around pins on the upper surface of the top bar. Before hammering the final nail home, turn it with pliers to increase the tension. If the wires sing when plucked, they are tight enough. But if the wires end up slightly slack, use a crimper (yellow below). But use it too much, and the wire becomes slack again. Strangely, if the frames are prepared some time before they are needed, the wires lose tension. I don’t know why. So, only construct them when required.
That’s it – give them a go.
small screwdriver in an eyelet
Crimper
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