Drone Frame
Lexikon
The drone frame (Drohnenrahmen) is essentially the same as the plain drone frame used for unguided comb building (Baurahmen): a frame without a preformed wax foundation that the bees build out with the noticeably larger cells typical of drones.
The drone frame (Drohnenrahmen) is essentially the same as the plain drone frame used for unguided comb building (Baurahmen): a frame without a preformed wax foundation that the bees build out with the noticeably larger cells typical of drones. The name drone frame here emphasizes the frame's targeted use for controlling the varroa mite, while the plain drone frame rather describes the general aspect of unguided comb building.
The varroa mite infests drone brood markedly more often than worker brood and can also multiply more within it, because the longer development time of drones gives the mites more time for their own reproduction. If the beekeeper deliberately uses drone frames and regularly cuts out the capped drone brood, this removes a substantial portion of the varroa mites growing up in the colony, without using any chemical treatments.
In practice, the drone frame is usually hung in the brood chamber in early spring, as soon as the colony is strong enough to build it out quickly. Depending on the weather and colony development, the capped drone brood is then removed several times over the course of the season. It is important to work the frame consistently before the first drones hatch, since after hatching new generations of mites are already on the move in the colony and the effect of the measure drops off noticeably.