Beeswax Foundation VS Plastic Insert Foundation//Pros & Cons of both

Links to all tools used in this video are below, available through Amazon Associate links that I make commission on. I appreciate everyone's support as they find the affordable tools that are necessary and make beekeeping fun. There are other links to sites that I do not collect commissions on, for products that are not available on Amazon.com.
Tactical style beekeeping gloves:
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My book, The Intuitive Beekeeper:
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Cornell University Study regarding pesticides:
news.cornell.edu/stories/2023...
Frames are a vital part of our beekeeping operations. This video will give you the pros and cons of natural beeswax foundation vs plastic inserts. Stay for the bonus at the end ;)

[@user-wo6fe6de3i]

After 15+ years of using wax foundations, I switched to BPA free waxed plastic foundations about 5 or so years ago and the bee's didn't seem to care. I prefer the plastic foundations now, it just makes life much simpler for me and saves me time. Great videos, I hope you keep them coming for a long time. You have an interesting story spending 10+ years working with a commercial beekeeper, no better way to learn and become an expert than from learning on the job. I bet you learned more than everyone that goes to "bee school".. I too learned as you did, my grandfather was a commercial beekeeper, growing up I just thought everyone kept bee's 😅

[@thehivedoctor13]

How cool to meet someone with a similar story and experience!! I appreciate you and your support! 🐝🐝 #plasticinserts 😅

[@gregwells7946]

Good work!

[@thehivedoctor13]

Thank you!🐝

[@user-xg9ot3vl3y]

Planning on using both,and she what works best,and the bees prefer

[@thehivedoctor13]

That’s the perfect way of figuring it out! 🐝🐝

[@lynnannandbenji]

I produce comb honey / chunk honey because I'm a top bar beekeeper. I have three top bar hives and they are all foundation less. I also have langstroth hives and I use plastic foundation in those. So I have the best of both worlds, in my opinion.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Hey, that's really cool! Top Bar Hives are perfect for producing comb honey! You do have the best of both worlds ;)

[@beebob1279]

You're right. Bees will only draw wax when they have the need for comb. If they don't need comb they won't draw foundation no matter what you try. If wax foundation is used and the bees have no need for it, they will just chew on it and ruin it that way. Plastic can't be chewed on by the bees and is preserved during these periods. As for pesticides in your wax for using for foundation. My suggestion is to only use cappings for this and candles for the old wax. Nice job with your explanation. Especially with the comb honey information

[@thehivedoctor13]

Hey, that's a good point about the bees chewing on wax when they're not using it. Thanks Bee Bob!

[@stanleyjones6705]

greetings doc I use plastic foundation in my hives. quick and easy. not really cheap but as I move forward I am going to use my wax to recoat my plastic foundation as it gets older and rotate out darker frames. I personally like the yellow foundation but will use whatevers on hand/available from a supplier.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Hey StanleyJones! That is an excellent strategy and I like it! Thanks for sharing man! You get the benefit of plastic, coat it with your own beeswax and rotate out old comb?! Winning!

[@captbriansbees]

Some pesticides, especially those for Mosquitoe control are non residual and breakdown in Sunlight. Unfortunately the ones used for agriculture are residual. One plus is most used by local farms and residual have very high LD-50 rates. That means it takes a high continuous dose to do harm. I was an Aerial Applicator before becoming an Airline Pilot.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Whoa! I can tell you know what you're talking about, thank you for the info!!

[@davidupton5252]

Great video keep making them you are an interesting speaker, I'm in the UK and I have never seen Comb Honey for sale in the most shops you have to look very hard for these places that sell that.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Hey thank you! I appreciate your kind words. I feel like comb honey is becoming less and less here as well and when you do find it, its quality is questionable. I like knowing about beekeeping across the sea! Thanks!

[@joeelam1]

What is your hive setup? Slatted rack, etc

[@thehivedoctor13]

I used to use slatted racks when I ran deep bottom boards. Now I use a specialized screened bottom board, deep hive body + medium super as my brood nest, additional supers for the honey flow, a quilting box and a migratory cover on top.

[@desmondsimmons1436]

We use plastic foundation but always put a thick coat of wax on them, the bees will draw out much faster that way. We also produce comb honey in both medium and shallow boxes, what kind of frames are you using for your comb honey?.

[@thehivedoctor13]

That's great! For my comb honey I sort of invented my own special frame that would produce nice, thick frames of honeycomb. A comb super will hold about 7 of my custom frames.

[@desmondsimmons1436]

@@thehivedoctor13 those sound interesting

[@willisgoodger1875]

I like using wax foundation. So much more user .... bee friendly. Plastic.... well its fast. Gonna try brushing wax on it to see i can raise the acceptance.

[@TheCoppyCat]

Just buy it already waxed. Double or triple waxed

[@thehivedoctor13]

You pretty much summed that up well! Thanks

[@c.joelummus8880]

So what kind of a losses do you have in the winter? I'm wondering if putting plastic sheets between The brood and between the overwintering cluster is such a good idea. I've come to the conclusion that my brood Chambers are going to be the old fashioned wire and wax. I'm convinced tho I have not tried it, that is a major cause of winter kill. I want to not use plastic in the middle of the brood chamber where I am overwintering my bees. And yes wiring and putting the wax on is a heck of a lot of Labor but in the long run it seems like the only way to go to me. I definitely agree with you the world is a lot better place with the plastic foundation when you're going to extract

[@thehivedoctor13]

Nice, it sounds like you’ve really thought through what works best for your operation! So my over-wintering survival rate is roughly 75%. And my loss is due to a couple of things in my opinion: I didn’t get the mite loads down enough or I have queen loss too late in the season to remedy. 🐝🐝

[@cherylmullenax4802]

🤤 mmmmm honeycomb! 🐝

[@thehivedoctor13]

Yeah!!