CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to install a beehive foundation? What tools are needed to install the foundation?

The installation method of the honeycomb foundation is relatively complicated. The tools needed include special iron wire for installing the foundation, wax for filling the grooves, wire embedding tools, etc. First of all, when we get the foundation, we should frame the foundation first. However, some manufacturers now directly sell the foundation with a frame, which can be used directly after receiving it without installing it by yourself. The honeycomb foundation should be made of pure beeswax. If the mineral wax content in the foundation is too high, the bees will not produce honey on it, which will affect the output of honey, so the selection of the foundation is very important.

The first step in installing the nest foundation is to punch four small holes of equal distance on the center lines of the two sides of the nest frame. However, in order to facilitate beekeepers, manufacturers now punch holes on both sides of the nest frame before leaving the factory. After punching the equidistant holes, use special iron wire for installing the nest frame to cross four holes. The iron wire is not thick iron wire, but a relatively thin No. 24 thin iron wire. The two sides of the nest frame must be pulled very tight with thin iron wire, and the eggplant cannot be loose. After tightening the iron wire, it needs to be fixed with small nails.

The top of the nest foundation needs to be inserted into the frame groove of the upper beam. The groove needs to be melted with wax and poured to keep the frame groove sealed. Then it is placed on the wire burying plate of the nest foundation and the wire is buried into the nest foundation with a wire burying device. The wire burying device can be a roller wire burying device or a copper head wire burying device. It can be used as long as it is convenient for you to use. The wire burying plate of the nest foundation is a thick plate about 15 mm thick, which is slightly smaller than the inner circumference of the nest frame. A wooden strip about 152 mm long and 5 mm wide is nailed horizontally at both ends below.

Beekeepers usually put the nest frames with the foundations installed into the newly separated bee colony to build honeycombs during the swarming season. In fact, as long as the average temperature is kept at around 15 degrees Celsius, honeycombs can be built in other seasons when the nectar conditions are good. The built honeycombs need to be well preserved and sprayed with some insect cleaner when necessary. They can also be fumigated with sulfur, carbon disulfide, or glacial acetic acid. Otherwise, the built honeycombs will easily be damaged by nest insects or attract bee robbers.