Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Plastic boxes need no paint, will not warp, and will last for years without any mainten-
ance. Some snap together in a onetime assembly.
A one-piece plastic box plus two plastic frames. In front is a one-piece plastic frame with
plastic foundation. In back is a plastic frame with foundation and fully drawn cells. All
the bees need to do is fill the cells with brood, honey, or pollen, reducing the need for
bees to make as much wax.
Adding Beeswax to Plastic Foundation
You need to add more beeswax to plastic foundation so the bees have enough to
work with when they first begin to make their comb.
The hardest part of this may be finding the two or three pounds (0.9 to 1.4 kg)
of beeswax to cover forty medium frames, more for deep frames. It doesn't need
to be candle grade but can be wax right out of a wax melter that hasn't been fine-
filtered. To find wax, start with members of the local association, or check bee-
keeping equipment suppliers. This should be the only time you need to do this be-
cause you can collect your own wax in the future.
I have a two-burner hot plate. On this I place the bottom of an old roasting pan
I got at a thrift store for pennies. I add enough water to fill it about a quarter to
a third full, then I put in a couple of old cooking pans I got at the same store. I
put enough wax in these to fill them about half full or so, place them in the water
in the roasting pan and turn the heat on both burners. For photos of my setup, see
Melting Beeswax on page 146. Your setup may be more sophisticated with perfect
temperature control allowing you to be very precise and heat your wax to just the
melting point of about 150°F (66°C). What you'll see, however, is that at about
that temperature the wax is cool enough that it begins to harden on the surface
around the edge of the pan it is being melted in. A yellow ring will form going all
the way around. If the wax is too cool, a thin film of solid wax will begin to cover
the whole surface. If it is too warm, there will be no ring at all. Wax that is too
cool won't scrape off the brush, and if too hot it will simply fill the cavity at the
