Deep Drone Frame

Outsmart varroa mites by placing a deep drone frame at the edge of the brood nest. The queen will lay drone eggs and mites will infest these cells instead of brood. Once the drone cells are capped, remove the frame, freeze for 24 hours, thaw and reinstall.

The green frame allows you to quickly and easily distinguish the drone frame inside the hive.

Note:

• Need a larger quantity? We also sell: Deep Drone Frame 52 Pack
• Much easier to use than straight unwired drone foundation
• Grab our Freeze Frame Bags to make for a mess free freezer experience
• If you do not have the freezer space, blast the frame at a slight angle with a garden hose. The water will shear the caps off leaving the cells intact and the drone pupae and mites will be flushed out. Just shake the excess water off and reinsert the frame into the hive.
• We recommend having two frames for easy rotation
• Frames come coated with beeswax

Learn More:

A Scientific Beekeeping article explains the concept of drone culling using a drone frame and its benefits:

"Use drone comb to 'trap' mites, and then remove those mites from the colony. This process is called 'drone comb trapping,' and is widely used with great success in other parts of the world. The concept is simple: insert a frame of drone comb into a colony at the edge of the brood nest, allow the queen to fill it with drone eggs, wait while the mites infest the cells, then remove the frame before the mites emerge.

Theoretically (Wilkinson & Smith 2002), trapping with one deep drone frame once a month for four months will delay the mite population from reaching a damaging level for 2-4 months; two frames monthly will delay it for a year.

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