Layens plastic comb (only sheet)

01 · THE FRAME IT NEEDS

A 2-3 mm groove on the inside

The sheet pushes into a groove of two to three millimetres cut on the inner face of the top bar, the side bars and the bottom bar. An ordinary wired Layens frame will not do: there is nowhere to seat it. Whoever uses these either makes the frames with that groove or has the joiner do it — and in exchange never wires, tensions or fits foundation again.

02 · GIVE IT A COAT OF WAX

That is what decides acceptance

Bare plastic smells of nothing, and the bees draw it grudgingly. The way round it is to coat or brush the sheet with liquid beeswax before it goes in, which gives it the smell the colony recognises. And as with any plastic, it goes in better during a good flow and with a strong colony: in a dearth, they ignore it.

03 · WHAT YOU GAIN AND LOSE

It lasts for years, but it does not melt down

In its favour: it does not warp in the heat the way wax foundation does, wax moth does not touch it, it scrapes and pressure-washes clean, and it goes season after season without rewiring. Against: old comb cannot be recycled — with wax, every renewal sends material back to the melter; here all you can do is clean the sheet and wax it again.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

This is the sheet only: the frame is separate and must have a 2-3 mm inner groove. It measures 360 × 305 mm without the tabs.