If you want Aussie foundation then you should be giving EBay a very big miss. There is a lot of foundation made in China and most of that has not only bees wax but also paraffin wax mixed in so that they can make it cheaper.
If you buy foundation from long established bee gear supplier like Burnett Bee Keeping at Kingaroy in Qld or a Guilfoyle’s store (used to be one on the old munitions factory area at St Marys, may still be there) and both will send by courier.
I’m very much into being self sufficient in my bee keeping but buy my foundation in bulk, the more you buy the cheaper it is. I’ve got caught once with Chinese foundation that was too white and a lick with my tongue confirmed it with the taste of paraffin. It is only good for making decorative candles.
Cheers
Always amazing how threads stray to get onto something quite different to the thread name. In this case
“What timber to use when building a hive from scratch”. I am guilty often.
We are all guilty of straying Wilfred, but it is still a mile ahead of other forums for friendly folks and excellent advice.
Cheers
lol @busso, it was supposed to be a quick question but we all love to chat 
Thanks @Peter48, that’s cheaper than what I get em for.
I am very confused about their pricing though http://www.johnlguilfoyle.com.au/foundation.htm
All I know is I have deep frames lol
So I take it no one really bothers to make their own foundation…
Making foundation for me isn’t worth the time, I’m at my bees most days at the apiary, helping others out at their hives or making more gear up. I don’t know anyone who makes their own foundation but if I can figure how to make an 8 day week, nah, i would still buy it and spend the time making more hives.
I think those prices on the Guilfoyle website are wrong. Here in WA they only stock one type and charge me $2.80 per full depth sheet.
Strewth, that is expensive. I but mine from Burnett Bee Keeping Supplies at Kingaroy, Qld and buy 100 sheets at a time for a better buying price per sheet. But last time I bought from them I was warned of a price rise in the wind.
Just checked their website Pete, and they’re $2.70 per single sheet and $247/100 sheets.
Well, I use just a strip so I get four frames out of each sheet. So far they are building nice straight comb out of that.
Maybe I’m taking some of the bee’s resources to get them build more comb, but I’m fine with that as I’m just a hobbyist and have no commercial interest in the honey.
If starter strips work for you then that is the way to do it.
I have tried starter strips but it doesn’t work for me with the only benefit is a slight cost saving and too many disadvantages. Not just wonky comb, but I use an electric honey extractor so all my frames have to be wired as even brood frames finish up in the super. I also find using full foundation there is less drone comb made by the bees.
Cheers
I still wire them Peter and they are building comb around the wire.
Drone comb is something that I have to watch out for. If I find they’re not worth the trouble I’ll switch to full sheet. In the scheme of things the cost saving is negligible for someone with just two hives.
Hi Stefan, have you been warned about how addictive beekeeping is?
Ha! I’m posting way too much on this forum, am I?
I don’t like to frame it as addictive.
I’m a total rookie, but beekeeping fits with my lifestyle nicely though - I try to grow as much veggies as we can eat, be sustainable, and tending the hives keeps me at home away from the rat race.
Hi Stefan, I was referring to you having only 2 hives. That can grow to 4, then 6. Once you’ve got 6 you’ll think “I might stop it at 10” & so it goes 
… if only the shire allows me!
Your secret will be safe with us…
Very good investigative work there, Fredddd.
You’re not a stool pigeon for the shire, are you? Haha…
Another quick question
Who grafts their own queens? If you do, have you used the “Nicot” method and should I buy it.
I’ve never grafted before
If the addiction does take hold, I was thinking along the lines of out apiaries… Not in your own yard.
Hi @RaniK, how did that inspection go yesterday? … just curious.
Hey mate, totally forgot to update you sorry.
I’m very relieved to inform you that there wasn’t a hive beetle in sight! In saying that I’ve never really had a beetle problem, just the odd one every few inspections which I squish.
That’s not to say there aren’t many larvae or eggs under cappings of the drone brood?
Everything looked normal and the other cells (on different frames) had normal 1 egg per cell. So thankfully no laying worker problem either…
So I’m now more confident that it was a drone laying queen which has now been replaced
That’s good news Rani, thanks for updating us.
cheers
PS @RaniK, I should add that if there is any eggs or larvae (beetle, I assume you mean) under the caps, that’s a recipe for a disaster, especially if the number of worker bees isn’t sufficient to overwhelm the larvae & clean it up.
I forgot to ask you what you found under the sunken caps.