Plastic in the Beehive

The Plastic Frame

Up until now, I've preferred to use a thin layer of beeswax as my foundation for a frame- it's natural, bees like the smell and it's a good use of the wax left over after honey extraction.

However, I decided to shake things up and try a plastic foundation this year in one of my hives for the first time- the added structural integrity is definitely a bonus when GODDAMN VILLAGE LOUTS KNOCK OVER MY HIVES WITH FARM EQUIPMENT!

Intrepid explorer

My main worry is the because plastic is unnatural, the bees might be put off by either the scent, or the feel underfoot.

However, before I could even put the frame in, at least one bee seem interested.

She brought some friends

It wasn't long before the bees became rather interested in the new addition to their hive. I think the hexagonal structure made them feel at home as it mimics their natural constructions.

Drawing it out

Within a week, the bees had started to 'draw out' the comb (building a cell around the hexagon framework laid down by the foundation) and filling it with honey. Once they've dried the honey out enough, they cap it with wax- that's the white blotches you can see here

Final touches

After a few weeks, it was clear the bees weren't bothered by the plastic. Here we can see that they've drawn out nearly the entire frame- I would estimate there's a couple of pounds of honey stored in those oh-so-fragile wax walls.

The Finished Product

Barring a few gaps, the bees had done a pretty good job filling in the frame.

The plastic foundation kept the lines nice and straight (wax foundation sometimes leads to a slightly 'bumpy' frame that can be a nightmare to harvest). All told, I was very impressed by the plastic- even if it did lack that 'authentic' feel.