On 24/10/2013 1:33 AM, James Fischer wrote:
>> Do they really choose?
>
> "Previous studies have documented that cavities < 10 liters are consistently
> rejected as nest sites by Apis mellifera... During a study of... southern
> flying squirrel ecology in Alabama, however, honey bees occupied a total of
> 10 nest boxes with volumes of 5-6.7 liters.


The question is what sizes were available to the bees.   I have seen 
nests that would have only been a litre or two.  Whilst Australia can 
have a dribble coming in all year at times, I suspect that these small 
hives are short lived even in our benign climate.  I regularly see see 
cup sized swarms around the beginning of autumn, I assume on no good 
evidence, that they are small hives, from small cavities, that are 
starving and abscond.

Geoff Manning

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