# Plasticell Foundation



## garytherock (Jun 1, 2011)

I am trying this for the first time on my medium honey supers........The bees just dont seem to like it...........They built one side of a single frame beautifully but that was it.....They actually made new comb between the frames and were using the plasticell for there bee space. On another they put one strip of comb in the middle of the frame and left the rest alone.
Has ANYONE used this successfully......?


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## vegasvalet (Jan 10, 2011)

I'm using it and it works great. Mine came in a kit, looks like they had melted some bees wax on it, might want to try that to encourage the girls.


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## garytherock (Jun 1, 2011)

it has wax on it ....got the plasticell from Dadant.......Do the bees have to really be working hard and need the frames for this to work effectively?


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## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

You are on the right track. To draw new waxed plastic foundation, the hive needs to be strong and working your main honey flow.


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## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

Your problem may bee that your plasticell is too brittle. Try spraying those frames with suger water. Your bees should start drawing them out.


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## garytherock (Jun 1, 2011)

/
thanks------is a 1 to 1 thick enough


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## garytherock (Jun 1, 2011)

Thanks


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## Bens-Bees (Sep 18, 2008)

I use the unwaxed plasticell and it works great. I actually had more trouble out of the waxed plasticell than I do with the unwaxed plasticell. If I want it drawn out quickly, a quick spray with some 1-1 syrup will make sure they draw it out very quickly. One thing to keep in mind though, is that you do need to push the frames together tightly, leave your space on the outside of the box and keep the frames pushed together in the middle, otherwise they'll do like they did with you and build the comb between the undrawn frames, or worse, they'll build the honey section of the comb out so far that you can't remove the frame without damaging the comb. 

The good thing about plasticell... well, one of the good things... is that it's an easy clean-up if they do what they did to you. A few scrapes with the hive tool and you're ready to have them re-work the frames. If that were wax foundation, you'd have to replace it in both frames and you'd lose any cells on the other sides of the frames... that's gotta be a lot more frustrating to deal with than plastic. 

I've had to buy a few pieces of wax foundation when I've run out of plastic at an inopportune time, since they sell wax foundation locally here, and I gotta say, I'd rather not have any of that wax foundation in any of my hives, it's downright annoying stuff. It's difficult to install, it's weak, it blows out in the extractor long before plastic will, if there's any problems on the frame you can't save any of the comb you just have to scrap it all. Yeah I'll take plastic over wax foundation any time I can.


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## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

I personally don't want to draw foundation in my honey supers with sugar water; I'd rather they were on a honey flow.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I use a paint roller to roughly coat unwaxed plastic frames with wax melted in a deep fat fryer and they are drawing them out in the brood nest like a charm. No problem at all. I was worried too when I decided to run plastic frames.


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## Bens-Bees (Sep 18, 2008)

wdcrkapry205, that's great if you're willing to wait for a honey flow to let them draw them out and don't mind the loss of production waiting for them to draw comb so they can work nectar into honey. I personally prefer to have drawn comb ready to go when the flow starts because if they don't have a place to put the nectar they are bringing in, they won't bring as much of it in.


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## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

Ben, as you know all beekeeping is local. My major honey flow begins the 2nd week of April, the minor flows before that are buildup for the major flow and all goes in the brood nest. I don't expect to extract any of that. If the buildup has gone well, the weather co-operates and you can keep them from swarming; I have no problem drawing out new plastic foundation spaced 9 frames to the box and I have no sugar water in my supers. Unfortunately this year nothing went right here. Oh, and I forgot to mention tornadoes destroyed almost all my mature poplars.


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## garytherock (Jun 1, 2011)

Thanks for the reply--------I have used 9 frame supers in the past.....
I like this because they really build it out around the wooden frames and makes uncapping a breeze......With your reccomendation I better go to 10 so they wont build out on the walls of the super........
I will try this spraying 1-1 thing.....they use it to build comb and this will not affect the honey....


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## garytherock (Jun 1, 2011)

I dont understand your response on drawing foundation with sugar water.....


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## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

garytherock said:


> I dont understand your response on drawing foundation with sugar water.....


I would definately feed while trying to draw foundation in the brood nest, if we are talking about a new package for example. And in this case my supers would not even be on until they had drawn all foundation in what I intend for their brood nest to be. If I have supers on it's because I am expecting my major flow to begin, and if it is and I have all the brood nest drawn why would I be feeding sugar water? As I have said my best flow comes early, way too early and the minor flows before that all go to hive buildup. I don't have the opportunity to draw super foundation with sugar water before my main flow. This is reality here, after the 3rd week of May its all over. Your area I'm sure is different, you probably have Basswood and maybe Black Locust, and clover; your lucky!


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## garytherock (Jun 1, 2011)

My bees are in a real good spot.....locust is blooming and is about done....I have a large sand prairie reserve bordering my apiary.....wild flowers and also backwater aquatic plants offer a large diversity of flora for them.... something going on all of the time.....there is an abundance of spider wart and they seem to really like it.....the honey created during this heavy bloom looks like transmission oil......really strange and my honey buyers questioned it at first but say it is the best they have eaten....? I cant the difference except that the later honey has a stronger honey taste..........thanks so much for your responses......I hope I can get things going with the plasticel supers...


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## Brenton (Jun 24, 2010)

What I have noticed with my bees is that if a frame of undrawn wax coated plasticell foundation is left in the hive to long before flows or between flows they will take the wax off and use it in other places in the hive, thats when they wont draw out the uncoated part.


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## jaybees (Jun 7, 2010)

If you are using plasticell you need to use 10 frames close together.
Once they are drawn out you can space them.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If only you had used foundation.... oh, I guess you did... 

I think spacing is a critical issue that is understated if not completely ignored in the beekeeping books. If you crowd them together you have much better luck. If you shave them down and make them 1 1/4" you have even better luck. Any spacing over the 1 3/8" they were made for is asking for problems.


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## HONEYDEW (Mar 9, 2007)

wdcrkapry205 said:


> I personally don't want to draw foundation in my honey supers with sugar water; I'd rather they were on a honey flow.


 we're talking about spraying the frames with a fine mist of sugar water to get them interested it would be long gone before there is ever any nectar in the cells


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## Bens-Bees (Sep 18, 2008)

wdcrkapry205 said:


> Oh, and I forgot to mention tornadoes destroyed almost all my mature poplars.


That has to suck. My condolences.


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## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

HONEYDEW said:


> we're talking about spraying the frames with a fine mist of sugar water to get them interested it would be long gone before there is ever any nectar in the cells


If there is nectar coming in and no place to put it except plastic foundation, or any foundation; they will be interested. As stated all beekeeping is local, I know there is only so much I can acomplish in 1 season. It just doesn't last long enough here, I'm not in Fla.


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