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Hobby Beekeeper/Wax Experimenter
Dave Wade is a 20 year hobby beekeeper from Sturbridge, MA. He is a long time member and a newly elected board member of the Worcester County Beekeeping Association. The club recently celebrated 125 years. In August 2024, he discovered a method to get honey bees to build comb late season by providing them with strips of rolled up wax foundation. He was able to extend the comb building season through September, in Massachusetts. In 2025, he conducted an experiment with package hives in which he showed that providing spring packages with supplemental rolls of wax the hives grew stronger and faster than the control group.
Beekeepers often think of wax production as something that simply happens when colonies build comb. But what if bees are constantly moving wax throughout the hive, recycling it from one location to another as colony needs cha...