>If I cut the 4.9 down into thirds for my medium frames as I do with the medium brood foundation, will the bees still draw the comb to the smaller size?
You can put nothing in at all and they will build it smaller sized cells. :) Of course if you want the combs in the frames they will need some kind of guide.
I think foundation is just good for those who don't trust the bees or can't stray that far from "mainstream" beekeeping concepts.
WHEN I use foundation (seldom) I have been cutting the plain deep foundation in half.
http://www.bushfarms.com/images/Foundation49.jpg>I know you and I are bucking the trends by going to 8 frames, medium depth throughout the operation, and using starter strips of foundation for the frames.
Well, it may be the new trend...
> Wanting to go natural methods for mite control I am interested in the 4.9--I didn't even know the stuff existed until this year when I decided to come out of seclusion and join the rest of the beekeeping world.
I know what you mean. I had bees and got all the magazines for a decade or two and it seemed like there wasn't anything new and my philosophy was never to treat them for anything anyway. I let the subscriptions lapse. The bees took care of themselves. Then the Varroa mites came and all my bees died and I had to find out why. Next thing I knew I was online learning about small cell, etc.