Hello All,
In a recent discussion on Bee-L:
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Scot Writes:
>> …The upsizing of bees is documented all over the magazines and
>>literature of the period....
Peter Borst wrote:
>…People have measured the cells from bees in frameless hives
>around the world and have established the natural cell sizes. These
numbers
>simply don't support the whole "upsizing" theory….
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Scot has a good point, this info is well documented.
Looking at the honeybee research taking place around the globe, it appears
the Bee-L list (that most beekeepers believe is the place one had to be if
one wanted to find progressive beekeeping techniques and cutting edge
research in the honeybee field) is falling behind the curve due to
continuing resistance from the influential speakers of the list to
acknowledge this well documented information concerning the upsizing of
honeybees.
Please find below, a link for the abstract to a scientific study just
published in October of 2006 by John B. McMullan and Mark J.F. Brown, at
the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, which was
published October 17, 2006 online at Apidologie
In this citation, researchers “undertook this study to find out if present-
day honeybees could revert to the cell-size of the 1800s..."
I respectfully ask of the influential speakers of the Bee-L list;
How can the scientific community / research (that many influential
speakers on this list hold up as highly credible and essential to prove
all things beekeeping) be conducting research based on the fact that
honeybees have been upsized from the 5.0 mm size found in honeybee cells
during the 1800’s to the present days 5.5 mm?,,,
While on the other (or same) hand, we are expected by these same
influential speakers here on Bee-L to ignore the scientific research
community that seems to have moved forward and fully accepts the upsizing
theory as fact, as determined factual by the which the basis for the study
referred to directly below was founded.
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"The Influence of Small-Cell Brood Combs on the Morphometry of Honeybees
(Apis mellifera)"
"Abstract - Until the late 1800s honeybees in Britain and Ireland were
raised in brood cells of circa 5.0 mm width. By the 1920s this had
increased to circa 5.5 mm. We undertook this study to find out if present-
day honeybees could revert to the cell-size of the 1800s..."
http://www.edpsciences.org/10.1051/apido:2006041
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At a symposium held at the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin,
Ireland. Researchers stated;
“The period from the late 1800s to 1920 experienced a major change in the
cell size of honeybee brood combs.”
http://www.tcd.ie/Zoology/text/Symposium.pdf
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Best Wishes,
Joe Waggle
Ecologicalbeekeeping.com
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries'
Feral Bee Project:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/
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