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,
Frames without foundation require three things:
A frame
Some way of encouraging them to draw straight combs
Preferably 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. Fix the starter strip in place with a dribble of wax.
No starter strip
So long as the hive is level and you don’t permanently displace the frame out of the vertical during an inspection, the bees build it straight. Feral bees don’t need starter strips.
Place the frame between two perfectly drawn combs, in which case a starter strip is definitely 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. A bench grinder will remove the excess wood in less than 30 seconds per frame. Unfortunately mine got clogged up so I’ve resorted to using my bench saw.You may unwittengly buy “foreign” frames that are wired horizontally or vertically. These are great for embedding wax.
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 a jig 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, I suppose it stretches under traction. So, only construct these frames when needed.
small screwdriver in an eyelet
Crimper
Imbedding wires in wax foundation
You need to buy a transformer to reduce the mains voltage to 10 - 15 volts. Then it is simple to apply the neutral and positive nodes, separated by a stretch of wire. The wire between the electrodes warms, and melts the wax just enough for the wire to half or totally sink in. Some people secure its upper edge with a dribble of wax. The technique takes a little while to learn. I demolished four sheets of foundation before I got the knack. The attraction of this method is that with the correct frames (horizontal wires) it is quicker and cheaper than using wired foundation. It lessens the need for fiddling, nails/pins, and sore fingers, Since the foundation is not fed through a slot it is not prone to bend.
Equipment for imbedding wires
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