Drone Comb Foundation Using A Silicone Mould

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks,

As part of my IPM, I intend to use drone comb to help control varroa within my hives. Plastic drone comb frames are currently available to use for this task but getting the bees to draw comb can be an issue if your timing isn?t correct. I have made up some frames with starter strips and these will work well when there is a good flow in progress but things slow down when the nectar isn?t coming in by the bucket load. When these times arise in my area, I have found that foundation tends to be drawn quicker as the bees have access to the wax within the foundation and tend to use some of that to help to stretch out the cells. I intend to use all three methods and will take advantage of each over the course of a season. Many years ago I made a mould from silicone to make normal foundation and this method worked exceptionally well. The bees would draw out the foundation very quickly for some reason. Perhaps it had something to do with the use of my own wax but in reality I can?t think of any reason why they would. I just know that the bees liked it. The only problems with casting wax foundation is that it is brittle in cool weather and it tends to vary in thickness due to the sagging of the mould as the wax hardens.

A couple of months ago a beekeeping supplier gave me one of those green drone comb frames to try in the coming season and I decided to trash it and use the foundation pattern to make a silicone mould. I can?t see any reason why it shouldn?t work so I decided to give it a try. I?ll run through the method of construction and photograph each section as I attempt it andgive you guys a bit of an idea as to how I get the mould made. I?m sure that many of you would be able to improve on what I?m attempting to do but at least there will be a baseline of ideas to build on. I think that it may take about four days to make the mould as there will need to be time set aside for glues and silicone to dry. So here goes.

The first step was to order some silicone online. I jumped onto eBay last week and ordered a 1kg pack. I purchased silicone with a shore hardness of 25 (which is the most common stiffness of liquid silicone that is sold). That has just arrived and I figured through some rough mathematics that 1kg should give a reasonable thickness to both sections of the mould. The next step was to get some material for a base onto which the mould could be constructed. I chose 12mm MDF as it is flat and has a good surface finish. MDF or particle board with a melamine finish would also be suitable for this part of the project. As the drone comb was a moulded, one piece frame, the foundation had to be cut out. I made a simple jig that gave me a base to support the jigsaw and also a fence to ensure that cuts were straight. This fence was cramped inside the frame and the top and bottom bars were cut away. The two end bars were then removed. What remained was essentially a piece of plastic drone foundation. The cut edges were then cleaned up and tested for flatness. 8 small blobs of plumbers silicone were then added to the underside of the foundation and it was then weighted down and left to dry sitting on the baseboard. I cut some strips of 15x12mm pine which will be used to make a wall around the foundation. They will be cut to size tomorrow when the glue dries. I also cut some strips of 3mm thick MDF to act as spacers around the foundation. I?ll post again in the morning when the next step is completed.

[Ben Framed]

Les even before obtaining  my first Bees, I read an article concentrating a situation in Africa, where volunteers were helping the African people to update their methods of beekeeping to modern Langstroth hives.

The silicone mold was one of the key tools, which was featured in that article. I flirted with the idea of trying the same thing but never did. I also watched a video where a well-known beekeeper melts his wax down each year, recycling and embosses fresh foundation with one of the hand crank type foundation embossers.

It is my understanding that this type of foundation is not brittle as in the silicone type. I?m kind of straying off of your subject of drone foundation. However, I still think your idea is a good one pursuing your purpose.

If I were to go into beekeeping more than a small hobby, I would definitely follow the lead of the fat B man, and buy one of those crank embarrassing foundation machines.

I?m just curious, how many of those drone foundations do you plan to use each season?  No doubt you will be successful in your endeavor.

[Lesgold]

Hi Phillip,

When I first started in beekeeping,  I made a silicone mold and used it for a few years with great success. Cast beeswax foundation is brittle in cool weather and I have read in the past that it would be difficult for the bees to draw out comb. That conversation gained a bit of traction and before you know it, people started believing what they had read. I actually found that if handled correctly, the cast foundation creates no issues at all for the bees. When taken to beehive temperature the wax softens and becomes very workable for the bees. When I cast the foundation I found that I could use one of two methods to attach the foundation to the frame. One was to place the foundation in the sun for about 2 minutes where it would soften and become flexible and the other was to insert the foundation into a frame while it was still warm which was my preferred method. I did a quick test on a couple of hives many years ago.  When ai added a super to a few hives I included a couple of frames with commercial wax foundation, a couple of frames with starter strips a couple of frames with my cast wax foundation and a couple of frames with plastic foundation with a wax covering. I just wanted to see what the bees  did with each of the frames. To my surprise, the cast foundation was drawn a little quicker than the commercial foundation and the bees really took to the starter strips but didn?t get them drawn as quickly as the foundation frames. The plastic frames were last to be touched but did get fully drawn before the starter strip frames were fully drawn. I will say that this was not a valid or reliable test as it was performed with only a few hives on one small honey flow. I have found that when there is a good flow on, all methods work well. Here is the link to my first venture in to YouTube using the wax mold that I made many years ago.

https://youtu.be/Fjq-ilNd39M?si=ur2ejflk7DHsqSZs

I intend to experiment with the drone comb but my thinking is to use it in conjunction with the frame cages when the queen is isolated. I will have to force brood breaks at some stage and should be able to get the queen to lay out this frame when she is isolated. This will hopefully attract varroa as the rest of the hive will have little to no brood during the process. I will then be able to remove this frame and destroy the comb. It will be just another component of the IPM process which will also include varroa pest strips. OAV is not not legal at this stage and won?t be an option unless regulations change.

I have been making all of my own foundation using an embossing roller for many years now. I steam all frames and recover the wax which is then used to make foundation. Unfortunately, I will not be able to recycle brood frame wax in the future due to chemical contamination. Here is a link to the method that I use:

https://youtu.be/OunOsxZqHAY?si=CFEEkC-UOQt_QU5q

[Lesgold]

The next step in the construction of the mould was to cut the strips of 3mm MDF to the correct lengths so that there were no gaps for the liquid silicone to fill. It?s a bit hard to see on the photograph but there is a 6mm wide strip on the two long sides and the right hand end. A 30mm wide strip was cut at the left hand end of the mould. This is where the mould will hinge. The top surface of the MDF is very close to the height of the foundation. This pour will form the top flap of the foundation mould. 15mm x 12mm strips of pine were then cut and tacked in place to make the container to hold the silicone. The MDF inserts were held in place by friction only. A smear of Vaseline was then applied as a release agent on all timber surfaces. As the foundation is plastic, no release agent is required. 450grams of silicone was weighed and the appropriate amount of hardener was then added. It was thoroughly stirred and then poured into the mould. The flat end of a steel ruler was  used to flatten the silicone. The mould was  bumped and bounced a few times to help some of the bubbles come to the surface. There will be residual bubbles of air in the silicone but they should rise above the foundation and shouldn?t cause any problems or defects. I will now leave the silicone to dry over night before peeling it away from the foundation.

[Ben Framed]

My reply to your Reply #2

Thanks for the good information Les! I am pleased to know the silicone molded wax foundation is easy to manage after all... Thumbs Up!!

Phillip

[Ben Framed]

The next step in the construction of the mould was to cut the strips of 3mm MDF to the correct lengths so that there were no gaps for the liquid silicone to fill. It?s a bit hard to see on the photograph but there is a 6mm wide strip on the two long sides and the right hand end. A 30mm wide strip was cut at the left hand end of the mould. This is where the mould will hinge. The top surface of the MDF is very close to the height of the foundation. This pour will form the top flap of the foundation mould. 15mm x 12mm strips of pine were then cut and tacked in place to make the container to hold the silicone. The MDF inserts were held in place by friction only. A smear of Vaseline was then applied as a release agent on all timber surfaces. As the foundation is plastic, no release agent is required. 450grams of silicone was weighed and the appropriate amount of hardener was then added. It was thoroughly stirred and then poured into the mould. The flat end of a steel ruler was  used to flatten the silicone. The mould was  bumped and bounced a few times to help some of the bubbles come to the surface. There will be residual bubbles of air in the silicone but they should rise above the foundation and shouldn?t cause any problems or defects. I will now leave the silicone to dry over night before peeling it away from the foundation.

Les did you make a video on this to post on your Youtube Channel?

Thanks...

[Lesgold]

Hi Phillip,

No I didn?t. When I posted the first clip, people asked how I made it. Perhaps I should if this works out. (Which it should as it?s not much different to the approach I used 10 years ago). My intention is to run two moulds. While the wax is setting in one I can be embedding the other one into a frame. It will allow a bit of an assembly line to be running. From what I?m hearing in relation to the varroa outbreak, every trick in the book will need to be used in the first couple of years. Mite bombs are causing total hive wipeouts in as little as 2 to 3 months. I?ll be asking for plenty of advice in the coming months. I heard a whisper that varroa may already be in my local area. I?ll be putting a few sticky mats on some hives with screened bottom boards to see if anything is showing up.

[Ben Framed]

My intention is to run two moulds. While the wax is setting in one I can be embedding the other one into a frame. It will allow a bit of an assembly line to be running.

Hi Les, Another good idea you have. 

Since the announcement of Varroa in your Country, I have posted in the Down Under Section, a few (really good) post and repost about varroa destructor with great information packed reading and video viewing, referenced from some of the very top experts on varroa (in my opinion). I hope you had the chance to check those out as they were posted? I wish now I had placed each of those post under a special heading and stickied for quick reference.

Phillip

[Lesgold]

Hi Phillip,

I did have a look at that information when it was posted. It?s good to have it sitting there as a reference. I had a few minutes just to peel the silicone from the mould. It released well and turned out as expected. The quality of the finish was very good. The silicone layer was about 5mm thick which is what I calculated. I will be out for the morning but I should be back to make adjustments to the mould for the second section.

[Ben Framed]

I like it Les.

[Lesgold]

The next step was to prepare the reverse side of the silicone mould. The foundation was lifted off the MDF base and the glue was removed. This turned out to be a pain as the plumbers silicone stuck too well to the foundation and needed to be pulled out in minute pieces to clear the foundation cells. The foundation needed to be turned over due to the offset of the hexagonal cell shapes on each side. Two spacers were temporarily positioned to help align the foundation in the correct place. The foundation was then glued and weights were applied to hold the foundation hard down on the MDF base. This will be left overnight to dry.

[Lesgold]

The spacers were removed after the adhesive had set and the wooden mould was reassembled. With no spacers, the liquid silicone will fill the void that is created and make a lip on all sides that will contain the molten beeswax. All timber surfaces were then given a slight smear of Vaseline and the remaining 550 grams of silicone was mixed with hardener and poured into the cavity. The end of a steel ruler was again used to evenly spread the silicone across the surface of the plastic foundation. By tomorrow morning, the silicone will be dry and ready for removal from the wooden mould.

[Lesgold]

The silicone came away from the mould quite easily. A hinge mechanism was made by constructing a few crimps from strap iron. They were then pushed into place to allow both halves of the mould to open and close like a book. I will allow the silicone to cure for one more day and then cast a few sheets of foundation.

[Lesgold]

Made a few sheets of foundation to test the mould. As expected, the sheets were thicker on the edges and thinner in the middle. This won?t create any issues for the bees as they will move the wax around to suit their needs. The warm foundation was embedded into frames when warm. This is the easiest way to store the cast sheets.

[Lesgold]

Just finished the second silicone mould last night and tested it this morning. I modified the top half of the mould so that it slipped inside the bottom section. This should give a more even thickness in the foundation (even though it doesn?t really matter as the bees don?t care) The system worked quite well and the sheets turned out to be of an even thickness. Everything is now ready from this perspective.

[Ben Framed]

You never cease to amaze Les! Keep us updated and provide pictures of the drone cells once put to use. This will be interesting as well! Thanks,

Phillip