Obtaining equipment and bees - A Practical Manual of Beekeeping - page 54

For large-scale commercial beekeepers, a lid feeder that holds more syrup and that can
be accessed without opening the hive is better because, with so many hives, visits to the
hives will be less frequent and so the syrup has to last longer.
Foundation wax
Unless you are buying a hive already stocked with bees, your frames should have a
wax foundation in them. This is a wax sheet that fits inside the frame and that is
impregnated with the hexagonal shape of the honeycomb (see Figure 12). The bees
will use this sheet as the basis for building their honeycomb and will 'pull the wax out'
- i.e. they will produce wax and add it to the pattern until a honeycomb is formed (see
Figure 13).
(a) (b)
Fig. 12 . Foundation wax: (a) in the frame; (b) a sheet of wax
(a) (b)
Fig. 13 . Wax cells: (a) pulled out; (b) sloped upwards to hold honey