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Sun, 12 Nov 2006 17:38:39 +0100 |
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Hi Dee
Your rule of thumb...
> 2% size difference in the bee per each
> degree of latitude change
Does not stack up with the morphometry, I suspect that within some races
it may be true, but it certainly is not true in UK, Parts of Europe and
some regions of what was the USSR in days gone by.
Yes, there is a variability in cell size within a nest with the smallest
cells right in the core of the nest, but in UK that equates to 5.1 mm
for Italianised bees and can vary up to 5.6 mm for some Amm types, with
a good many Amm types around 5.3-5.4 mm (these figures are all regarding
the smallest cells in the core of the nest).
I have only seen one nest in more than thirty five years that had cells
as small as 5.00 mm and none that had cells smaller than that (other
than odd ones and transition cells).
Freely built comb in UK is most commonly 5.5 mm.
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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