What part of the state u from

I had two hives in an old house on my property that I want to tear down this year. I didn't want to harm the bees and just could not get anyone out to take them. So my son and I decided
to get a couple of hives and get them into them. My thoughts were it was a pretty passive hobby. Boy was I wrong, theres a lot to it. We were successful in getting them, along with the queens
into them but we sold them to a distant neighbor as I didn't need another hobby. After our start he is doing good with them. Hopefully I just get some honey from him as I love it.

Warrior what is your take on embeded wire in foundation? That id the way I was taught. My mentor said it was much better then plasticell.

Drifter I know you asked warrior but I will give my thoughts and limited experience with both.

They both work. Definitely want some wire to support the wax when it is hot out. But the bees use both about the same for me.

So my preference is for the plastic especially the dark plastic for bood boxes. Why because it much easier to see 1 day eggs when doing inspections with the darker background vs light color wax.

Camp Valor Seminar? My co-worker just told me he went as well

I figured out many years ago that women don't need to know how much some things truly cost.

God I hope she don't sell my guns when I die for what she THINKS I paid for them. Lol

I live in Henry County.
West central Mo.
Basically about half way between KC and Springfield

Kent. I'm about 3 and a half, maybe 4 hours from Mountain Home Ar.

I never have a single issue with my wife on what things cost and I don't keep anything from her or tell her it was less than it was.

At most when I say something like if I can't get the parts for the UTV I'm just going to buy a new one I may get an o boy and just let me know so I can move money around but that's it. When I buy guns she never says a word. She knows it's a good deal or something I wanted for a while since I don't spend money loosely.

I think she also know how hard I work and how I put the family as the priority. She saw how her mother hounded her step father when he spent money on tools he needed to work with as a kid and never agreed with that. Maybe I'm one of the lucky few to have a great wife. Or maybe the bad controlling ones just get talked about more and there are more good ones out than people think.

It's just another areas of many where I'm so blessed to have my wife.

I say this as I get ready to go drop somewhere aroung 2 to 3 k on med honey suppers frames and queen excluder. Well and may add a 6 frame electric spinner also. Tomorrow hopefully a barnn builder will have time to come out to add on to a building roof the existing and add a porch on one side. That's going to be expensive. But the addition is for my daughters mouse and rabbit breading business, that will open up the existing for a gym and small work shop for the boys. The porch is for the wife to have a covered place to grill,boils down sap, butcher chicken, and have a nice place to sit and drink coffee. One think you may notice is there is not a thing involved in that for me. Yet I benefit from all of it one way or another.

I'm an old school wire and wax guy. That's what I started with and stuck with. But I've got plastic that was given to me. Plastic works IF it is well coated with wax AND the bees are in a drawing mode. If not they will chew the wax off or draw wonky comb. I like the Acorn plastic but still think wax is better.

I have seen better use with wire beeswax foundation than plasticel, but it is way more difficult to replace. If selling honey, you will generally get more money from the folks who want comb honey - but that means you cant reuse your foundation.

I have had decent success using some of his techniques. I would caution future bee keepers that everything does not work everywhere. Bees can require a lot of work and considerable expenditure of money. I always wondered about those bees that get in the walls of a structure that seem to live forever. My son bought a vacant house for a deer camp. There were some bees in the eave that had been there for five years and before the remodel contractors moved in, they said the bees had to go. It was a job working two stories off the ground trying to save the bees. I salvaged what I could and tore the rest out and sprayed the survivors with everything I had. After the remodel, they were back in six months and have been there for the past nine years with nobody doing anything with them

Run all plastic Acorn foundation - low on wax I roll it on. Cant seem to figure out the pressure washer setting for cleaning up wood/wire/wax frames...........tired of wiring, tired of wax sheets - went to all plastic. Wax moths dont seem to prefer to nibble on plastic as bas as wood either.......

Very good club in Clinton MO. Where I started at.

Acorn is the best I've tried and my lazy streak likes it, alot lol. Heavy wax or rolling on a thick coat helps considerably.

I'm still not a fan of plastic though as I get new beekeepers every year with that double comb hanging off the foundation asking me how do I fix this.

But that's just a symptom as wired wax can get just as boogered up if the bees decide to chew it up when they hit a dearth.

Maybe we're not teaching the art of getting good drawn comb?

Got to put it on, wired or plastic, when the bees are in the drawing mode and if possible use good straight drawn as guides to get it drawn straight.

I can show pretty quickly how to fix that double comb issue - with my hive tool - I scrape it right off and MAKE them redo it. I used to feel bad killing brood etc. Anymore, I make them lay it down where I want it or else do it over........
You are 100% correct - when they want to draw it out matters - you can get very nice foundationless frames filled off a popsickle stick when they want to build comb - they want to build comb. I have found keeping them on syrup when flow diminishes at all really aids some but wont help if no flow coming in. Last year was plain terrible all year with drought. Couldnt get 10 frames pulled all year..........

We are getting down to 25 degrees tomorrow morning and really I have not even started evaluating my bees yet this year. Probably get into them again in a week with stabilizing weather and start making some splits and treating with OA for mites.

Yup, scrape it off and use it to rub onto the foundation. But I hate the double work involved.

It is very addictive hobby.

I had a brainstorm that actually worked. Got 2 pieces of glass that used when embedding the wire. One on each side of the glass. Stopped the curls and bumps.