Hello All, The New Zealand publication is: Taylor, M. 2002. Varroa destructor not thwarted by smaller sized cells, study finds. The New Zealand Beekeeper 10, 10: 7-8. The first sentence in bold says " Smaller honeybee cells neither reduce the reproductive success or the amount of cells infested by the Varroa destructor mite, according to a New Zealand study", and the last sentence says " -these results suggest cells smaller than 5.4 mm may actually increase infestation". Briefly, 5 rectangular pieces of comb 5 cm x 8 cm with cells ranging in size from 4.7 mm to 5.4 mm were inserted into the same brood combs, and after three generations of brood were frozen and the number of infested cells and the number of adults and offspring per cell were counted. A total of 1,616 cells were assessed from 10 nucleus colonies, 2 frames per colony. Robert Dartington asked if the bees uncapped more infested cells of small size. The study doesn't address this point. Trevor Weatherhead is correct in that 4.7 and 4.8 mm foundation was inconsistently drawn out. However, the author says that "enough sections (of comb) with correctly shaped cells were obtained for trial usage". The author, Michelle Taylor, can be contacted at: HortResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, East Street, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand. I don't have Michelle's email address, but she works with Dr Mark Goodwin, [log in to unmask] Regards, Barry Donovan, New Zealand. Visit our website at http://www.crop.cri.nz ______________________________________________________ CAUTION: The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential. If you read this message and you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution or reproduction of all or part of the contents is prohibited. If you receive this message in error, please notify the sender immediately. Any opinions or views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not represent those of their employer. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::