Hello Everyone,

>Wish other beekeepers here on BEE-L could give a comparison
with TBH figures in a not so strongly mixed commercial
area, and from a different region....

Those comb measurements include more locations than just Wyoming. That
includes Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. I don't know about the degree of
isolation in these areas. But I suspect they are about the same as most
other areas, in the US, and would not be considered very isolated.

The bee size measurements on my site are all from Wyoming.

On another note and a rant :>). Most of the stuff and the methods used in
beekeeping today, became standard practice based on the 'doing' and not on
the 'knowing'. The verticle Lang hive with it's beespace, the smoker, the
extractor, queen rearing, foundation cell size, etc, were all based on
observations and lots of perspiration. This stuff filled some beekeeping
need and simply worked. The proof was in the doing for most beekeepers.

I'm sure the innovative improved it to suit their purposes, the curious
'speculated' :>) why, and the scientific 'tested' to advance the science of
beekeeping amoung other things:>). The entreprenuer, found a way to use it
and make some money. And the argumentative, 'discussed' all of the above. :>)))

For me, the 'if' concerning the impacts of small cell size on bee behavior
is history. It works. And who would have thought about the impacts of cell
size, except the Lusby's to which I'm indebted. And now, since I don't spend
any time on the mites, I've got lots of time to innovate, speculate, test,
and even discuss the hows and whys.

Could small cell size return bees to their natural state? Or is it a better
match to seasonal behavior? Does it activate SMR traits? Does it decrease
the time the brood are capped? Do small cell beekeepers have a more positive
karma which impacts the bees and decimates the mites?(I'm waiting for Jim F.
to develop a meter to test this :>))?

I've connected the dots differently than the Lusby's. I suspect that others
who try it, will connect the dots somewhat differently also. A good
scientific test might help us all connect the dots more consistently and
explain why some only had a few dots to connect. Or why some had more than
they should have :>)))

When I first noticed the tapered cell size in my tbh comb, I explained what
I had found to my youngest son. He looked at me with a blank face and said,
"Of course its size tapers, because the sides of the tbh taper." Hummm.... I
hadn't thought of that and I didn't discount it either! That's one of the
reasons I measured other tbh comb, and also changed the slope of my tbhs
several times.

Insisting that there's only one way to connect the dots, whether large or
small, denies the very nature of humanity and of beekeeping itself. Adding a
moral value to it like right/wrong, or good/bad takes the discussion to
another level entirely.

Regards
Dennis

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