new beekeeper!

[bobby]

my bees will be here the 2nd week in may. my question is , my crimped wire foundation , is it o.k. to just use support pins or do i need to wire them as well? also can i store my supers in the house with foundation in them? or will wax moths be a problem? 1 more , do i need to medicate my girls the first year or wait?

[thegolfpsycho]

I would probably imbed at least 2 horizontal wires to keep the foundation from becoming "wavey"

Your bees should already have been treated for mites, but I would still keep an eye on them.  Mine came from heart of almond country, with apistan strips in the package, and a ton of dead mites in the box.  Has me worried already.

Wax moths are mostly after the cocoons in the wax, so new foundation should be relatively safe.  In the house would probably be ok.

[Robo]

Maybe
yes
no
yes




I personally don't like support pins,  if you use them, be very gentle with the frames, otherwise the pins will break thru the foundation.  I also find that if the bees are not in the building comb mood (no flow) they tend to chew out the foudation around them.  Since you are a beginner and most likely don't have the equipment to install cross wires, I would go ahead and use them.  Just make sure you feed the bees syrup so they can drawn comb, and you should be all right.

You can store foundation in the house as long as it is not too hot (don't leave it in direct sunlight).  Wax moths will not bother foundation.  They will only eat comb that has had larvae or pollen in it.

Not sure what you mean by medication, but you should definately watch for varroa and I highly recommend treating for tracheal mites.  I'm a strong believer that a lot of the so-called "starved" winter kills are caused by tracheal mites.