Wax foundation or honeycomb base is a plate made of

wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give lo ...

forming the base of one

honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic cells built from beeswax by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) and stores of honey and pol ...

. It is used in

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as '' Melipona'' stingless bees are ...

to give the bees a foundation on which they can build the honeycomb. Wax foundation is considered one of the most important inventions in modern beekeeping.

History

Wax foundation was invented by German Johannes Mehring in 1857, a few years after Langstroth designed and patented the

Langstroth hive In beekeeping, a Langstroth hive is any vertically modular beehive that has the key features of vertically hung frames, a bottom board with entrance for the bees, boxes containing frames for brood and honey (the lowest box for the queen to lay e ...

on October 5, 1852. Mehring's wax foundation had only the bottom of the cells, and today's base with the foundation of the cells was invented by US beekeeper Samuel Wagner. The Langstroth patent did not call for foundation and let the bees build their own comb. At first, wax foundations were made in the wax foundation press. The first presses were made of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

, while later presses could be made of

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

, and finally

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

, which are the ones used today. Wagner also invented the wax foundation rollers, but never perfected them; the first usable rollers were made by

Amos Root Amos Ives Root (1839–1923) was an Ohio entrepreneur who developed innovative techniques for beekeeping during the late 19th century, when the practice played an important role in the economy of many communities in the U.S. He founded his ow ...

and precise mechanic Alva Washburn in 1875. In 1895. Detroit inventor Edward Weed invented rollers that can make wax foundation in a continuous roll.

Use

Wax or plastic foundation is inserted into a wooden frame through the top and is usually connected to the side bars with wire. It is not used in foundationless frames or in plastic frames where the foundation is made of plastic and is part of the frame itself. Foundation is not usually used in top-bar applications (where no frames are used) such as

Top Bar Hive A top-bar hive is a single-story frameless beehive in which the comb hangs from removable bars. The bars form a continuous roof over the comb, whereas the frames in most current hives allow space for bees to move up or down between boxes. Hives t ...

s or Warre Hives except sometimes as starter strips. Wax foundation has some advantages over letting bees build their own comb: * It provides a guide for bees to build straight comb. Without foundation, the beekeeper runs the risk of having comb built outside the

Hive frame A hive frame or honey frame is a structural element in a beehive that holds the honeycomb or brood comb within the hive enclosure or box. The hive frame is a key part of the modern movable-comb hive. It can be removed in order to inspect the bees ...

when they start, preventing its easy removal for inspection. * Foundation built comb is usually stronger in part due to the wiring embedded in the wax. This allows for centrifuge extraction. * Foundation allows beekeepers to increase the size of the cells on the honeycomb. By stamping bigger cells on the foundation than what bees would naturally build, the beekeeper is guiding bees to build bigger cells, increasing the size of worker bees as well as the volume of the cells for honey storage. Most foundation being stamped with cells measuring while the naturally built worker cell measures to that leads to an increase of a linear increase of 110% of the original size and a volume increase of 157% of the original size.Natural Cell Size - Michael Bush - Bush Farms https://www.bushfarms.com/beesnaturalcell.htm For these reasons, foundation had been used extensively in commercial operations. Recently there has been a large movement toward foundationless beekeeping by hobbyists for various reasons. Some of which are listed below: * Varroa: With the expansion of ''

Varroa destructor ''Varroa destructor'', the Varroa mite, is an ectoparasite, external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees and is one of the most damaging honey bee pests in the world. A significant mite infestation leads to the death of a honey b ...

'' around the world, some believe that natural cell size helps bees combat this pest. Cutting out drone cells is also an effective way in an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan to fight varroa. * Chemicals in the wax: Most beekeepers purchase their foundation from beekeeping suppliers. In addition to honey, beekeepers also need pollen and nectar from their colonies. Honey contains vitamins and other valuable nutrients for bees. The cost of honey, including beeswax, is variable depending on how many of these components are used and where they are purchased. The price of honey, with a wide range of beekeepers' items, is also variable. These suppliers manufacture these sheets of foundation with wax purchased from various beekeeping operations which may have used chemicals or worked near fields where chemicals were sprayed. With an increase awareness for pesticides and their impact on bees as well as the organic and natural beekeeping movements, some beekeepers are concerned with the

traceability Traceability is the capability to trace something. In some cases, it is interpreted as the ability to verify the history, location, or application of an item by means of documented recorded identification. Other common definitions include the capa ...

of the wax used.Bee Culture - Ditch the foundation - http://www.beeculture.com/ditch-the-foundation/ * Cost and/or time: The foundation needs to be manufactured. The beekeeper can make it or purchase it and this leads to him or her spending time and or money on foundation or equipment to manufacture it. * Natural Cell size: Comb is not uniform. Natural worker cells range from to and Drone cells range from to . This means that the bees have to adapt the foundation to build drone cells. With the advance in research, the importance of drones being present in the hive had led some beekeepers to let the bees built their own comb in the spirit of natural beekeeping. * Production of

raw honeycomb Comb honey is honey intended for consumption by humans, which is still contained within its original hexagonal-shaped beeswax cells, called honeycomb. It has received no processing, filtering, or manipulation, and is in the state that honey bees h ...

: Since the comb will be cut out, it is easier to not have any wires in the comb. It is also better to not have chemicals (pesticides) in the wax if it is going to be used for human consumption. A

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

has to be wired so that the wax foundation could be inserted into it. The foundation is then soldered with the wire by using a spur embedder or electric current. Also extant are wax foundations with embedded wire that only need to be inserted into the frame. Wax foundations are made in various sizes, depending on the frame they will be inserted into. If needed, roller knife is used to cut wax foundations.

References

{{BeeColonyMemberTypes Beekeeping Beekeeping tools

History

Use

See also

References