Embracing Bee Creativity with Variable Cell Size Foundation

Hey Bee Enthusiasts! ✨ So, here’s a buzz-worthy thought: What if we could encourage our buzzing buddies to build a natural broodnest on a single frame?

Imagine the benefits of having that natural touch in our standard frame and foundation setups!

Exciting idea, right? Well, turns out, our little friends had a different opinion. Let me share what happened in this experiment that didn’t quite go as planned.

Setting the Stage

-Check out our test frame.

I got my hands on some drone-sized foundation, large cell foundation, and small cell foundation. A strip of drone foundation was placed at the top, followed by a strip of large cell foundation, and lastly, a strip of small cell foundation. Picture it like a layered cake in a frame, with the largest cells at the top to mimic the natural comb structure.

These hybrid foundation frames were added to small cell hives in different positions—center, edge, above, and below—in late June during the yellow sweet clover flow.

The Not-So-Great Reveal

A few weeks later, the inspection revealed a not-so-great outcome. The bees seemed to love the drone comb and larger worker cells, drawing them out beautifully. But, oh dear, the small cell size turned into a bit of a mess. They created odd shapes and transitional areas, with only a small section of good small cell comb. The rest was reworked to a larger size, and it was honestly the worst small cell comb building I’ve seen.

Lesson learned: bees aren’t easily fooled, and maybe I need to up my trickery game!

Pondering Other Options

Gradual Transition

Worker brood cell sizes naturally taper rather than abruptly change. Maybe heating and stretching small cell foundation to create a more gradual transition in cell size could work. Or, using a foundation mold built from natural broodnest comb as the master.

Strategic Arrangement

Another idea is having frames with both large and small cell sizes within a hive. Small cell frames toward the interior and large cell frames toward the exterior. This could offer the benefits of both without compromising mite tolerance.

So, while this experiment didn’t go as planned, the bees sure taught me a thing or two about their preferences. It’s all part of the buzz-filled journey of beekeeping!

-Keep buzzing, D 🐝🤠