Recent posts by Adrian and others have put this discussion into fairly
clear terms. In fact, this has been one of the best reasoned and
cool-headed discussions over a sensitive subject that I have seen on the
Bee-L in recent years. I wish FGMO had had the same give and take. I credit
Bob H and Barry B, among others, for their reasoned approach.

But, I have to take issue with Barry's comment that the natural size is
smaller.

Size depends on many factors, including local conditions. In cool climates,
selection would favor larger since a larger body allows for less heat loss
and better accommodation to the cold. You would hit a balance with bees
between size and flight. There obviously is an upper limit for bee size
unless bees change radically. EHB may be larger naturally, since a larger
bee has a better chance to over-winter successfully than a smaller bee. And
a larger bee would take longer to emerge.

But AHB has not had to accommodate to colder winters and other conditions
faced by EHB, so they are optimum for their conditions, which seems to be a
smaller bee which also would lead to earlier emergence. Many factors could
lead to a smaller size, including varroa, predation, etc..

If a species has lots of food, few enemies, good health, etc., it moves
toward larger, not smaller. I recently looked at an old Cape style home
that had been built in the mid 1800s. It has been on the market for a long
time because the upstairs ceilings are 6 feet high, which was fine for most
everyone during that time, but way too low now.

I was responsible for the maintenance of the USS Constitution. Try walking
below decks without bumping your head. Check NFL players or your kids. We
are moving toward larger, not smaller based on our conditions.

So EHB will not naturally move toward a smaller size unless there are
external pressures to do so. Varroa might be one of those pressures, but it
could be off-set by cold survival and definitely by the beekeeper. If EHB
develops another way to control Varroa, such as grooming, then there would
be much less pressure for a smaller bee and smaller cell size, if that is a
Varroa control mechanism.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME