Droning On

June 1, 2007

A few people have written to say that they haven’t had any problems with the Pierco frames, so I’m still at something of a loss as to why I’m seeing the patterns I am (and, in response to a suggestion posed in a comment, no there wasn’t a grease patty or leaky feeding jar above that build out pattern on that frame). I did, however, come across this article from Bee Culture magazine on Pierco frames. It notes that because the plastic frames fix the cell size to what works well for breeding workers, rather than the larger drones, the bees will sometimes have to go to extraordinary lengths to find a place to lay their drones. Maybe this is what they were doing on my frame?

Related Articles

I’m excited to try a new experiment this year: top-bar beekeeping! In traditional “Langstroth” hives (or at least, traditional since the mid-1800’s), rectangular frames are placed into rectangular boxes, and the bees build their comb …

March 28, 2011

Based on comments from Rusty and some that I received through Facebook, I think the verdict on the Bee Kill question is clear: the girls found something they shouldn’t have. Rusty left this comment: The …

December 7, 2010

What do you get when you combine two hives of very active, healthy bees with one very active, healthy two-year-old boy? Nah, it’s not the set-up for a joke, just a setup for about a …

November 21, 2010