Dee Lusby writes to Rip;

>>>As for the rest, .... few decades when looking.<<<

To be quite candid, I am fairly well read in the literature relating to
pollination.  I am also well aware of the resource partitioning that
occurs between different species of bees based on, among other things,
size.  At the same time I am also unaware of any mention, in what I have
read, that shows that different size bees of the same species forage
different plants.  Unless I missed something, I can't believe that John
B. Free, as a case in point, would not mention this observation in his
very extensive writings on pollination.

Dee Lusby writes to Allen;

>>>As for the propolis, ... best book I've
ever seen done in Bucharest in 1978, ... 10 years either way in the
archives of ... Apimondia ...<<<

With all due respect, I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but you are
very long on generalities and very short on specifics.

Which book(s), pamphlets or articles are you referring to and what should
I be looking for?  If it deals with the antimicrobial properties of
propolis we are already in agreement on that point and that is not very
helpful.  If on the other hand it deals specifically with the control of
the vegetative stage or the killing of AFB spores, could you please cite
a specific reference, chapter and verse, as they say?  I am unaware of it
and would be very interested in reading it for myself.

Romania published a lot of material for Apimondia.  To be candid the
quality of the paper and ink left much to be desired, the ink "rubs" and
the paper is so thin you can see the text on both sides at once, both of
which make for hard reading that, frankly, I would just as soon avoid
without a definitive reference citation.

I'm not from Missouri but I was brought up to "believe nothing of what
you hear and only half of what you see".

>>>for the record, ... reprocess the wax  ... make our own foundation.<<<

I'm not trying to be "cute" when I say, I'm "flabbergasted" to hear an
"organic" beekeeper make that statement:

(1) Extensive published research has shown that comb wax in a colony acts
much like the "liver" in vertebrates, i.e. non-secretable (sp) toxins are
sequestered there.  Maybe there is a basis for the fact so many people
"hate" liver.

(2) "Dr. Jerry" has published extensively on the fact that bees are
little flying "dust mops" and are excellent environmental sampling
devices.

(3) Any number of studies have shown that even the Antarctic is not
"pollution free".

(4) The practice of replacing the wax, not just redrawing it, is well
supported by the results.  Those stories of "all the foundation" this or
that swarm has drawn out and how much honey they produced has little or
nothing to do with the fact it is a swarm but the "clean wax" and timing
certainly does become a factor.  Frankly, "shook swarms", under
appropriate conditions, show it all the time.

Perhaps this explains your "mite control" results, might you not be using
embossed wax "mite strips" for foundation?  As I've said, something is
going on but I'm not convinced of the cause and effect, that you propose
is the reason.

As this applies to AFB, holding wax at a high enough temperature for long
enough will deactivate, but not "kill", some portion of the spores.  You
never say never and I'm here to doubt that some come through functional
at the other end.

Both these factors are as much behind the industry use of capping wax as
anything as the source of most of the wax used in the commercial
foundation industry.

Rip

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