>
> On a side note...has anyone also noticed that if you place an empty frame
> (no foundation) into an A. mellifera hive, the workers produce drone
> cells?  Our visiting scholar from China in our laboratory states that
> A. cerana workers build worker cells.  Anyone know why the difference?
>
> Paul
>
> ---
>
> Paul C. Cheng ([log in to unmask])             "The French find my music
 
Well Paul, I can't quote the exact references but Steve Tabor was one who
did some work with this.  He found that true initially but they quickly
changed to worker cells.  He thought they achieve some chemical balance with
a minimum number of drones in the hive.  I think it was a Cornell grad
student who opened and measured a bunch of wild colonies and found drone
cells at the top of many comb sections.  I have found that hived swarms
without foundation make mostly worker cells with a few drone sections
interspersed.
 
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+    Raymond J. Lackey                                     +
+    Beekeeper 10 years with 25 colonies on Long Island    +
+    INTERNET: [log in to unmask]                 +
+    Mail: 1260 Walnut Avenue, Bohemia NY 11617            +
+    Home Phone: 516-567-1936  FAX: 516-262-8053           +
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