>refers to one apiary that she studied in the mountains. There were 9
>hives, which the owners filled with swarms. These hives were plain

Peter, whats to say that these swarms didn't come out of managed hives? I
believe a high percent of what we call feral bees are ones that started from
managed hives where a cell size has been predetermined.

>The AVERAGE cell size in each and
>every hive was 5.3 mm.

what does this mean? how is the average figured? by taking the smallest and
largest size cell found and finding the middle? average in percent of total
cells? where were they measured from on the comb, in the hive?

>However, the only people reporting
>success with curbing mites by this method are working in an area that
>is known to be Africanized and besides, it is an arid sub-tropical
>zone.

so if we here of someone with success in a different zone, what will that
tell us? I thought there was someone on this list that said they were in new
york using the small cell. any success there?

>But if you are going to speculate about
>bees, you better have some facts to back you up. I have backed up
>everything I have said.

Wait a minute, I'd still like to see the facts that back up your assertion
that European bees make comb with worker cells that
average around 53 mm (Taber & Owens, Michener). then we can maybe get a
better understanding whether or not there is any bias on this size.

>I could do even better but I don't want to
>appear to be some sort of an encyclopedia.

too late for that. will you be coming out in cd format soon? <G>

mark


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