Empty bee boxes, all too common with varroa mite enhancement of virus epidemics in our bees, need bees. In those boxes our bees need drawn comb. Drawn comb is the most valuable resource for the bees and also for the beekeeper. A good time to produce additional drawn comb is when establishing new colonies. Depending upon which hive we use and our beekeeping philosophy, we might use pure beeswax foundation, plastic frames with the comb template, empty frames or top bars with a leading edge to obtain more drawn comb. The bees may cooperate and draw the foundation orienting their comb within the frame or they may adopt their own (different) cross- comb orientation.
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