Embracing Foundationless Frames for Beekeeping Bliss

Ever thought of letting your bees go au naturel with their comb-building skills? Well, with foundationless frames, it’s not just a thought—it’s a sweet reality!

In a typical hive, frames are the unsung heroes that can cradle the beauty of natural comb. Here’s how you can let your hive dance to its own comb-building rhythm:

Ditch the Foundation: Run those frames without the typical foundation sheet.
Wire for Strength: Reinforce the comb by wiring the frames.
Top Bar Hive Vibes: Set them up akin to how a top bar hive maestro arranges their bars.
Starter Strip Magic: Add a starter strip in each frame, giving your bees a launching pad for their comb-building masterpiece.
Level the Hive: Ensure the hive is on the level—bees appreciate a balanced canvas.
Let Them Draw: Finally, let the bees do their thing and draw out that natural comb inside each frame.

It’s as simple as that.

Sure, there might be a bit of comb that doesn’t win any beauty contests, but that’s par for the course, whether or not you use foundation. Some bees are just Picasso with wax, and some, well, not so much.

You’re not reinventing the wheel here. You’re using your existing hive equipment and giving your beekeeping routine a touch of that natural charm.

Curious about how other beekeepers dive into the world of foundationless frames? Check out these resources:

Now, running foundationless frames isn’t a groundbreaking idea. Charles Martin Simon, a beekeeper with a penchant for the unconventional, once sold Super Unfoundation frames. These frames were a twist on the standard, using vertical dowels as comb guides instead of foundation and featuring a starter strip. Maybe it was ahead of its time.

Remember, everything in beekeeping was foundationless before fancy presses and mills churned out commercial foundation sheets.

Pros and Cons of Foundationless Frames

Using natural comb frames might not be the bee’s knees for optimal bee living:

Fixed comb spacing doesn’t align with the bees’ preferred broodnest structure.
The frames are pricier and more complex.

But, hey, there are some perks to running the foundationless show:

You can utilize your existing equipment.
Ready-made frames save you the trouble of shop tools.
No comb attachments to cut—life just got simpler.
Framed comb is sturdier, standing the test of time.
It aligns with the familiar setup for conventional management/mentoring.
Gradually introducing natural comb into your existing setup becomes a breeze.

Things to Ponder

Frame Spacing

Most frames come with a self-spacing width of 1 3/8″—great for an overall hive. But for a natural broodnest, a slightly narrower frame width of 1 1/4″ is a better match. Beekeepers using foundationless frames often report straighter comb when working with the narrower spacing. Plus, you can fit 11 frames in a 10-frame brood box with this adjustment.

Easy Transition

Transitioning to foundationless frames is a smooth journey:

Skip the mite treatments to keep that new comb pristine.
Gradually slip in foundationless frames among drawn comb as part of your regular comb rotation plan.

If your old combs aren’t plastic foundation-based and the wood is free from miticides or disease, a simple cutout from the center of each comb—with a bit of comb left attached to the top, side, and bottom bars—works wonders. The bees will use this as a guide to draw out new natural comb in the center.

Hands-Off Approach

Running natural comb in a frame-based Lang hive is a piece of cake. But be wary of meddling. There’s a tendency to rotate, shuffle, divide, and generally play around inside a frame-based hive. The illusion is that meddling doesn’t harm many bees and since no comb is lost, no damage is done. However, that’s far from the truth. A hive takes days, sometimes a week or more, to recover if all goes well. In the worst case, the hive is damaged for the season.

Delays or confuses critical colony decisions.
Induces robbing.
Aggravates hive defensiveness.
Releases hive beetles from their prisons.
Some queens panic, leading to balling and queen loss.
Disrupts heat, humidity, odor, hive organization, brood care, and climate control.

Here’s a golden lesson I’ve learned the hard way: when in doubt, stay out. A hive’s situation is seldom made worse off when it’s left alone.

Running Them Naturally

Amidst the myriad of advice and management schemes for meddling inside the broodnest, only a few work seamlessly with the bees.

Feeding

For the most natural and easiest way to feed bees, insert honey/pollen frames above, beside, or below a broodnest.

Splitting

Creating an artificial swarm is an excellent way to leverage a hive’s decision to reproduce. With frames, it’s a breeze and a quick job. Done systematically, splitting can keep your equipment full and reduce the need for frequent requeening.

Requeening

A colony naturally lives three to five years if all goes well. Then, like all things, it perishes. The comb and cavity are scavenged, preparing the cavity for a new swarm. Unfortunately, bees in a natural beekeeper’s hives follow the same cycle, leaving empty equipment.

Requeening breathes new life into a colony and can help control temperament and other characteristics. However, it’s an expensive, intrusive, and risky process that often fails almost as often as it succeeds.

Comb Rotation

Mimicking the natural cleansing found in a scavenged cavity, comb rotation is crucial for optimal colony health. With natural frames, comb rotation is systematic, tracking the age of combs and managing them when handling natural comb in other hive types becomes challenging or impossible.

Checker Boarding

Checker boarding is the only frame/hive management technique that works with the bees. It leverages the management flexibility frames provide without meddling with the broodnest. You can dive deeper into checkerboarding here.

Honey Harvest

Harvesting honey from frame-based hives is a breeze compared to other hive types. Comb reuse is on the table, and with a well-thought-out rotation plan, comb remains free of environmental contaminants.

-Wishing you a hive buzzing with bliss, D 🐝🤠