Buying plastic foundation for wood medium frames

[Jen]

I've been using wax and wired foundation up until now, I prefer it that way. But now that I'm selling nucs, it isn't time effective or cash effective to send out wax/wired frames in nucs. So, I'm going plastic foundation with wood frames.

I can get Acorn waxed foundation on Amazon, 10 frames $20.

Which do you prefer? black or white? and why?

[Wandering Man]

I think people usually use the black for brood chambers.  The black is supposed to make it easier to spot eggs.

[tedh]

The black foundation definitely does make it easier to see eggs, at least initially.  After several rounds of brood it doesn't really matter, as the "cocoons" in individual cells build up it becomes more and more difficult to see the eggs.  Dadant in Hamilton Illinois does not, or at least did not last year, sell medium foundation in black, only yellow.  Ted

[apisbees]

Black plastic foundation in honey supers makes it hard to see the color of the nectar. so your humming bird red nectar or dark honey, might not show up till you uncap and extract it.

[Riverrat]

When making up nucs to sell. I would cull out  frames I no longer wanted and use for  nucs.  This keeps  equipment your using in top condition.  Its  a pretty common practice to do this and makes great financial sense

[neillsayers]

FWIW- I have been told that SHB prefer black foundation.

[Jen]

Great information here 

Ted, Amazon has medium black and white plastic. I may just stick with white altogether

[tedh]

Sounds groovy to me!  Is the foundation wax coated? Ted

[Jen]

Yep, and I changed my mind at the last minute, got twenty black and twenty white, see how I like to use either.

And Apis made a good point of not being able to tell the color of the nectar, hummer food red, that would be important to know when extracting.

[riverbee]

black for brood chambers, white for honey supers.

with either, waxed or not, wax them again.

[brooksbeefarm]

I prefer WAX foundation I don't sell Nucs but the ones i have seen looks like the beekeepers are getting rid of their old dark frames and making money doing so. :yes:I have tried plastic foundation a few times and don't have much luck getting the full frames drawn out, mostly what i call snakes drawn out on them. When i used plastic in my honey supers and used Bee Go too rob them, i found that (something my buddy Perry would do) if a few bees are still on the frames, do not drop them on the ground to shake them out With plastic frames it will knock the bottom bar off of the frames and your honey will be laying on the ground :'( Jack

[apisbees]

I don't sell Nucs but the ones i have seen looks like the beekeepers are getting rid of their old dark frames and making money doing so.

In my opinion this is a poor practice that will come back to haunt them. Selling off your crappy comb will give you a bad reputation, beekeepers talk with one another.  In My opinion the frames if wood should be sound, all joints tight, and properly nailed. The wax cells can be dark as this is the natural progression as the comb is used for brood. If the frame is wax foundation based it should be properly wired. to keep the comb straight. This means no frames from cut outs. and if you do foundation-less Your frames must be wired. And most important is the frame containing mostly worker cells, avoiding drone cells altogether is difficult but their should not be large patches of it. When you are selling a nuc you are selling your reputation as a beekeeper as well.

[riverbee]

"When you are selling a nuc you are selling your reputation as a beekeeper as well."

well said keith, and that reputation will 'travel'.

[brooksbeefarm]

I agree Apis, i have voiced my opinion several times at our bee club as to what a 5 frame nuc should be! A frame of honey three frames of brood and a released laying queen and one empty frame either drawn comb or foundation. JMHO. A speaker at our club said a five frame nuc could have one frame of honey 2 or 3 frames of brood and the queen could be caged an still be a nuc??? I guess you could call it a nuc, but too me that is not what a nuc is supposed to be!!! Jack

[apisbees]

I do agree with you Jack for the most part. I do know a beekeeper that makes up nucs with the customer. They go through the hive find and cages the queen then puts the 5 frames in
the customers equipment. He leaves the queen in the cage so there is less chance of her being injured during moving, with instructions to release her the next day. Most the time he is putting the bees in the customers supers with 5 new frames so their is room that the frames could move. But the bees and brood is hers so she is accepted and laying, Just caged for a day.

[Riverrat]

around her we do what we call frame exchange.  You bring5 new frames with foundation to trade out for the frames your getting.  If not trading out there is an extra fee.

[brooksbeefarm]

This speaker was from the Kelly bee supply Co.and the caged queen was not the mother of the brood in the Nuc. More than likely they will accept her, BUT, you still won't know what yiu bought until she starts laying??? Jack

[riverbee]

to what jack said....
this is how i buy nucs and think it ought to be......the nuc however made up, 4 or 5 frames and not with old brood frames a beek wants to dispose of............if we as beeks won't use these frames don't pass them off to someone else! 
seems nucs come in all sorts of configurations of short cuts that quickly challenge and disappoint new beeks and quickly annoy older beeks!

further, IMHO, the nucs ought to contain a laying queen that has been laying in the nuc (proven queen), no caged queens, no releasing of a queen..........just my HO on this subject!