# Pierco vs Rite-cell vs Plasticell ???



## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

RiteCell is the thickest and the stoutest, Plasticell is quite flexible and lightweight, and Pierco is right in between. When you are popping RiteCell into frames, it'll get hard on the thumbs. Otherwise, I love it. Next (and last) I'd go with Pierco. Plasticell is my least favorite plastic foundation. If I have a large order (over $100), I always go with the RiteCell from Mann Lake for the free shipping; it beats all with that. These are just my observations. I prefer foundationless comb over all though.


----------



## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Pierco... Cheapest if you are buying several thousand. Last batch of Pierco was bright yellow and bees draw out faster than any other foundation! Out of 1000 yellow drawn out this last season only a few had tongues drawn out. Pierco cell size is 5.2. The other few thousand were ritecell. Ritecell had trouble fitting into frame slot and the bees would first draw out the Pierco first and then the rite cell.


----------



## Broke-T (Jul 9, 2008)

I buy several thousand direct from Nick at Pierco. I buy it unwaxed and use my wax. He has always had the best price. Give him a call and he will e-mail you a quote. I use all black, but doesn't seem to matter as I have tried the yellow also but hard to see eggs and larva in yellow.

Johnny


----------



## MTINAZ (Jan 15, 2010)

I have tried just about every plastic foundation I could find. Black really helps to see eggs larvae. My favorite is perma dent. Mann lakes stuff is to thick, makes it harder to install and I wonder about heat transfer in the winter. There is a lot of plastic between the cells on the other side of of the cluster. The wax coating from dadant seems very inconsistant with the batches I have purchased.


----------



## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Mann Lake's Rite Cell is a little heavier than Dadant"s plasticell. I wouldnt agree that it necessarily follows that it is better though. We have never had any problems at all with the Dadant foundation blowing out in an extractor or any other problems relating to its slightly lighter construction so I really look at weight as a non-factor. Let price be your guide. If you want to go with a plastic frame then Pierco is probably the best though I have never tried the molded "Plasticell Pro" plastic frame. We have done it both ways and have finally settled on installing the foundation as we are putting on the bottom bars as being slightly faster to snapping in the foundation is really a non-factor in my decision.


----------



## Billy Joe Adair (Mar 28, 2008)

I ended up ordering directly from Nick @ Pierco last week. He was the most economical choice. I ordered waxed black foundation for my deeps and waxed white foundation for my medium frames. Mr Lyon brought up something I had not thought about. Is it easier to put all the frames together and then at a later date come back and snap in the foundation. Or should I put the plastic foundation in as I build the frames? I forgot to mention that all my frames are grooved top and bottom bars from Western Bee. I have several thousand frames to do and would prefer to do it like 'the big boys' do it.


----------



## Wisnewbee (Apr 8, 2011)

Given a choice, I would only use Pierco. A friend of mine did side by side studies of which foundation the bees preferred. This was only for plastic foundation, since he's a commercial guy. This study was done in multiple yards, and multiple hives. All brands of foundation were in each yard. All frames were Dadant wood frames. The Pierco was preferred by the bees each and everytime! By a large margin too. Some hives had multiple brands of foundation in them, and the bees worked the Pierco first, everytime. It didn't matter if it was yellow or black. All were waxed. Next in line was the Dadant foundation, and Mann Lake came in last. I used Pierco in all my hives last year and wasn't sorry. 64 hives drew out 1200 frames of foundation, and still made 4000 lbs. of honey. Nick is a great guy to do business with too! Good prices, fast service, and a quality product. What more can a beekeeper ask for?

Wisnewbee


----------



## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Sorry, I had assumed the OP was talking about the molded one piece plastic Pierco frames. I havent used the foundation.


----------



## Broke-T (Jul 9, 2008)

We build the frames through the winter and add the foundation just before using. So far this winter we are half way through putting together 500 boxes and 5000 frames, all from Western Bee. The foundation will be from Nick at Pierco. If you put it in early it can get dirty. If they are clean and freshly waxed the bees take to them better.

Johnny


----------



## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

I tried Rite Cell for the first time this year, it is sturdy stuff, but the bees wouldn't touch it unless there was a super heavy flow going and they needed more storage room yesterday. I even tried putting it in between frames of brood to get it drawn out and they didn't touch it during a fairly good flow. I think I may try the Pierco next. John


----------



## Wisnewbee (Apr 8, 2011)

I run Pierco foundation in wood frames in all my brood chambers. I use full plastic frame/foundation in my honey supers. I'll only use Pierco for both. Like Broke-T stated, we build boxes and equipment during the winter and install the foundation just before we need it. Nothing like that smell when opening a fresh box of foundation. I want my frames to have that smell when we put them on the hives. The bees seem to just jump right on it then. I didn't spray the frames/foundation with sugar syrup as recommended. Bees didn't seem to care. If there was even a small flow on, or we were feeding, the girls just drew the frames right out. I would recommend that as the foundation gets drawn out, you rotate the undrawn frames towards the center of the box. Brood or honey super, do it and you'll get great straight comb.

Wisnewbee


----------



## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

Do you add more wax to the pierco ones.? I know the Mann Lake plastic ones need more or they dont build them out very well.


----------



## RAK (May 2, 2010)

The Pierco don't need more wax.


----------



## Wisnewbee (Apr 8, 2011)

I agree with RAK. I buy their waxed frames and foundation. They come with enough wax, so say my bees. That's what counts to me.

Wisnewbee


----------



## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

My bees have almost always said, "Hey cheap-skate! Add more wax." And so I do. I prefer Rite-cell, but cost-wise, I go with one-piece Pierco and add more wax.

If anyone would like a free copy of my PDF report on how to add more wax and increase the likelihood of acceptance, send me an e-mail to [email protected] and I'll reply with an attachment. I haven't figured out how to do it on beesource. Put "WAX" in the subject line.

Grant
Jackson, MO


----------



## Broke-T (Jul 9, 2008)

We started out adding more wax to the waxed foundation. I decided if we were going to do that, why not buy unwaxed foundation. It is cheaper to buy and weighs less so its cheaper to ship. We are treatment free so I know the wax I am putting on the frames is chemical free so that makes me feel better also. Win win situation.

Johnny


----------



## CLICKBANGBANG (Feb 3, 2013)

I'm halfway between Dadant and Mann Lake. Reading through this thread has me confused as to which direction to drive. I'm just picking up frames for starting two boxes.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Which would you get? And why?

Mann Lake PF100 series, because they are 4.95mm cell size and well accepted.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesnaturalcell.htm#cellsizes


----------



## Jayoung21 (Jun 22, 2010)

Ive always used rite-cell, very sturdy. Once they draw it out they use it just as readily as anything.


----------



## Jayoung21 (Jun 22, 2010)

Michael Bush said:


> >Which would you get? And why?
> 
> Mann Lake PF100 series, because they are 4.95mm cell size and well accepted.


I wish they made just 4.9 plastic foundation without the frame, i like wood frames with plastic foundation


----------

