Neccisary to Wire Medium Frames?

[ctsoth]

Is it neccisary to wire medium frames for extraction?  In the event of extraction I will most likely be using a radial extractor...

[Michael Bush]

If you crank an extractor up too far too fast, you can blow out even wired frames.  If you're gentle (as you should be anyway) you can extract unwired frames.  I do all the time.  The main purpose of the wire is to hold the foundation so it doesn't buckle before it gets drawn.  I've done many frames either foundationless or with thin surplus with no wire and then extracted them.

I've also had many a frame of thin surplus buckle in the heat and make a mess.  Blowing out in the extractor is a problem if the wax is brand new (soft like putty) or if the comb isn't attached a little on all four sides (foundationless seems to get attached on the bottom last and thin surplus sometimes gets the bottom "detached" by the bees).

[Brian D. Bray]

Cured comb is very resiliant, green comb is very pliable.  The wires are not necessary, they are really more for peace of mind than anything else, that and making up for clumsy beekeepers like me.

[Apis629]

It all depends on the kind of foundation.  Anything with beeswax, it is probably recomendable to wire it in.  If it is plasticell or duraguit, I wouldn't bother.  By the way, AVOID duraguilt for HONEY SUPERS.  It buckles every time!

[Brian D. Bray]

I would have thought they would have corrected that problem by now.  That was the 2nd reason I rejected using it when it first came out in the 1960's.  The 1st was that the bees would strip the wax from it to use in making comb and then you were left with frames drawn out half way down with bare plastic the rest of the way.  Personally I find it ludicris to have to repaint a framed foundation with wax in order to get the bees to work it.  I bought 10 EZ frames to try in my nucs but haven't used it yet.  I did it to see if it had improved since the 60's--time will tell if I wasted my money.

[thegolfpsycho]

I've always been a wood and wax guy myself.  I had some health issues that reduced my prep time, so I bought 150 sheets of permadent and threw them on in supers.  The white wax was showing up in all my home colonys, so I went and checked out the placed colonys.  Hadn't touched them.  Another week went by and I checked them again.   They had jumped all over the permadent and were going to town.  Once they are drawn, no problems at all.  A couple colonys got very lethargic, as if they were going to swarm instead of move onto the new plastic, so it had me a bit concerned.  But eventually. all of them worked the plastic.