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Date: | Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:57:02 +0100 |
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Hi Peter
> Do queens lay evenly through the day and night, or do they lay
> more eggs during the day or the night?
Far too much emphasis has in the past been placed on sheer numbers laid,
and averages over relatively long periods, rather than the rates at
which they may be laid. This is further complicated by the length of
time used, so if we divide up our day into three hour chunks we will
obtain less information than if we use one hour periods and a whole day
can hide all sorts of variations.
A quote from David Headrick...
"Apis mellifera L., can produce about 220,000 eggs during a 12 month
period. This translates into 602 eggs per day, 25 eggs per hour or an
egg laid every 144 seconds. These figures are misleading as they are
averages that do not take into consideration seasonal variation and the
rise and decline of population. In a rising population leading up to
midsummer the rate may be 3000 eggs per day and I have heard claims for
up to 5000 per day."
My conjecture.
I reckon the rate will depend on several factors like amounts of pollen
available, amount of nectar available, how many empty cells available,
how many 'jobs' are not being fulfilled in the nest, things like that,
daylight hours available would correlate fairly well with observed
annual population dynamics, but day length and temperature also drive
nectar and pollen availability so which is the cause of the effect?
Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman or http://www.dave-cushman.net
Short FallBack M/c, Build 6.02/3.1 (stable)
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---
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