Foundation in a beehive is the same as a concrete slab on the house. Both serve as the structure to be built on, and the partially formed cells serve as a blueprint for the bees to follow and build their own comb on top of. Bees will build on both sides of the foundation and use the comb to store honey and pollen and to raise their young.
Beginner beekeepers love our foundation because of the black background. While this doesn't make a difference to the bees, the background makes it very easy to see the white eggs and larvae. This is a necessary skill for all beekeepers and our foundation makes it that much easier. Each sheet also has two perforated breakaway tabs that can be removed for bees to pass between frames easier.
American-made by Acorn Bee Plastics who specializes in making the best quality plastic foundation for bees available. More durable sheets raised cell walls, and communication holes set this foundation apart from any foundation made by Pierco, Mann-lake, Premier, or any other foundation company.
In 2015, we were tired and disappointed with using the standard thinly coated, Mann-lake plastic foundation and others like it. The bees just would not build comb on it... So we changed to what the bees like more and found a supplier who would apply twice the beeswax on it. And our bees and our customers have never looked back. The additional coat of American beeswax makes a SIGNIFICANT difference to the bees (and the beekeepers). Our bees just love it!
We didn't realize this until after using it for a while, but the bees form cells that are smaller than the standard beeswax and plastic foundation on the market. Each cell is 5.2 mm wide, which is about halfway between the small-cell foundation and the standard large cells sold by most companies.
Orders of 1000 sheets or more are sent via freight on a pallet.
Here are the other types of frames and foundations:
Medium frames
Medium foundation
Medium frames with foundation
Deep frames
Deep foundation
Also see our other Plastic Foundation, Frames, and Assembly Tools.
Read our Bee Foundation Sizes and Why it Matters blog post.