Foundationless

Why would one want to go foundationless?

How about no chemical contamination of the combs and natural Varroa control from natural cell size? As far as contamination, some of my queens are three years old and laying well. I don't think you'll find anyone who is using chemicals in their hives with that kind of longevity and health in their queens. You can also get clean wax combs with natural cells in a top bar hive.

How do you go foundationless?

Bees need some kind of guide to get them to draw straight comb. Any beekeeper has seen them skip the foundation and build combs between or out from the face of the comb, so we know that sometimes they ignore those clues. But a simple clue like a beveled top bar or a strip of wax or wood or even a drawn comb on each side of an empty frame will work most of the time.

Comb started on a blank starter strip. This natural comb was brood and was drawn by regular Carniolans that were already regressed. The cells are 4.6mm. The frames were spaced on 1 1/4" centers. One can also use strips cut from foundation

Foundationless frames

I made these by ordering frames from Walter T. Kelley with no grooves in the top and bottom bars and cutting the top bars at a 45 degree angle on both sides. The bees tend to follow the sloped top bar. L.L. Langstroth has pictures of this design in the original "Langstroth's Hive and the Honey Bee" which you can still buy as a reprint.

3rd from the left, drawn foundationless frame. Note the corners are often open, the bottom seems to be the last to get attached, but this is attached on all four sides and ready to be uncapped and extracted.

4th from left, here is a Dadant Deep foundationless with a comb guide all the way around and a 1/16" steel rod for support horizontally in the center. This allows cutting six pieces of 4" by 4" comb honey out without fighting with wires. Langstroth also used the comb guides on the side like this.

Last three. Page from LL. Langstroth's Hive and the Honey Bee and close ups of the original foundationless frames and the "comb guide."

In my experience the bees will draw their own comb faster than they will draw foundation. I'm not the only one to make the observation that bees are not attracted to foundation.

"Foundation, even composed of pure beeswax, is not intrinsically attractive to bees. Swarming bees offered the opportunity to cluster on foundation or some branch show no preference for foundation." --The How-To-Do-It book of Beekeeping, Richard Taylor

Historic References

"HOW TO SECURE STRAIGHT COMBS. "The full advantages of the movable comb principle is only secured by getting all the combs built true within the frames. Upon the first introduction of movable frames, bee-keepers frequently failed in this although much care and attention were given. Mr. Langstroth, for a time, used for guides strips of comb attached to the under side of the top bar of the frame. This is a very good practice when the comb can be had, as it usually secures the object besides giving the bees a start with worker comb. Next followed the triangular comb guide consisting of a triangular piece of wood tacked to the under side of the top bar, leaving a sharp corner projecting downwards. This is a valuable aid and is now universally adopted." --FACTS IN BEE KEEPING by N.H. and H.A. King 1864, pg. 97

"If some of the full frames are moved, and empty ones placed between them, as soon as the bees begin to build powerfully, there need be no guide combs on the empty frames, and still the work will be executed with the most beautiful regularity." --The Hive and the Honeybee by Rev. L.L. Langstroth 1853, pg. 227

Foundationless Beekeeping Frequently Asked Questions:

Question:

You mean I can just put a box of empty frames on the hive?

Answer:

No. The bees need some kind of guide.

Question:

What is a comb guide?

Answer:

It can be any of several things. You can use an empty frame with nothing added IF you have a drawn brood comb on each side as the brood comb will act as a guide. You can put popsicle sticks in the groove to make a sort of wooden strip, or cut a piece of wood to make a wood starter strip. You can turn the wedge on end and glue it in. You can cut a triangular piece and put on the bottom of the top bar. You can buy chamfer molding and cut it to fit and put it on the bottom of the top bar. You can cut the top bars on a bevel. You can make a sheet of empty wax and cut it into ¾" wide strips and put in the groove of the top bar and wax it in. You can cut strips of regular foundation into ¾" wide strips and wax that in the groove or nail it with the cleat. If the frame already had comb in it, you can just leave the top row of cells on the top bar for a guide. Any of these work fine.

Question:

Which comb guide do you like best?

Answer:

I like all of them fine, but I like the durability of the beveled top bar and I think the comb is attached a bit better. Next I'd probably go for the wood strip. Last I'd go for the starter strips as they sometimes get hot and fall out if the bees haven't used them yet. But I also feed empty frames into brood nests all the time as I have a lot of old frames around. Bottom line is, I do whatever is the easiest at the time.

Question:

Can I extract them?

Answer:

Yes. I extract them all the time. Just make sure they are attached on all four sides and the wax isn't so new that it's still soft, like putty. Once the wax is mature and the comb is attached at least some on all four sides, it extracts fine. Of course you should always be gentle with any wax combs (wired or not) when extracting.

Question:

Do I need wire in them?

Answer:

I don't use wire.

Question:

CAN I use wire in them?

Answer:

Sure. The bees will incorporate the wire into the comb. Of course you need the hive level anyway, but this becomes more obvious with wire in the comb. Wire is probably more useful when doing deeps than mediums. I run all mediums.

Question:

Can I put a whole box of foundationless frames on a hive?

Answer:

You can. Usually this works fine. Sometimes because of a lack of a comb to use as a "ladder" to get up to the top bars, the bees start building comb up from the bottom bar. For this reason I prefer to have one frame of drawn comb or a full sheet of foundation in a super being added on. This isn't a problem when installing a package. Another reason for the one comb, though, is it's good insurance at getting the combs in the right direction. Another solution to them trying to build comb up, is to put the empty box under the current box so they can work down.

Question:

Won't the bees mess it up without foundation?

Answer:

Sometimes. But they mess it up sometimes even with wax and even more often with plastic. I've seen no more bad combs doing foundationless than I have using plastic foundation. Some of this appears to be genetic as some hives build good comb even when you do everything wrong. Other hives build messed up comb even when you do everything right and simply repeat the "mistakes" when you remove them.

Question:

Won't it set the bees back having to build their own comb?

Answer:

In my experience, and many others who have tried it as well, the bees build their own comb much more quickly than they build on foundation. Using foundation sets them back in many ways. First they draw foundation more slowly. Second, the foundation is all contaminated with fluvalinate and cumahpos. Third, unless you're using small cell foundation, you're giving them cells that are larger than they want and giving the advantage to the Varroa.

Question:

Is it a good idea for a beginner to use foundationless?

Answer:

In my opinion it's easier for the beginner who has no habits to adjust to foundationless. It's much more difficult for the seasoned beekeeper to adjust to keeping hives perfectly level, not turning comb flatways, not shaking bees vigorously off of a comb that's still new and not well attached etc. Beginners will often break one comb and learn their lesson. Experienced beekeepers will keep falling back into habits and breaking combs for a while until they finally get it ingrained as a new habit.

Question:

What if they mess it all up?

Answer:

I suppose this seems much more frightening to someone who has never done a cutout. If you've ever cut all the combs out of a wild hive and tied them into frames, then you already know what to do. You cut the wild combs and you put them in an empty frame and use rubber bands or string to hold them in the frame. The bees will take care of the rest. They do this just as often with plastic foundation and it's often more difficult to fix.

Michael Bush

Copyright 2006 by Michael Bush

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