On Sun, 2 Jul 1995, Jerry J Bromenshenk wrote:
 
> I found out
> years ago and Erik Erickson and others found that European bees vary more
> in size than generally acknowledged.  Erickson found that the foundation
> supplied by various distributors of bee equipment has different cell
> sizes.  I found that bees vary so much that some colonies can squeeze
> through a hole 1/16 of an inch smaller than others.
 
Okay!
 
Jerry you bring up the most fascinating subjects.  Here's one I have
always wondered about.
 
I have a read over the years that it is a good idea to try to have larger
bees by changing brood comb regularly so that the cell size is not
reduced with old cocoons -- and even by obtaining stock that is purported
to be bigger.
 
I have always somehow doubted this, being aware that if we doubled the
size of the bee, we would have a different critter.  Because of simple
geometric facts, doubling the bee size would increase the mass by a factor
of 8.  Volume varies as dimensions cubed  (In this case 2 X 2 X 2) and the
wing surface by 4 (2 X2).  If we tripled the size, we would have 27
times the present mass, but only 8 times the wing surface.
 
Such a bee would have trouble lifting itself off the ground empty, let
alone laden, unless other factors of scale cut in.  I think lift from wing
is more or less linear with area.  (Velocity of wing movement might be
lower due to the fact that larger muscles tend to be slower, but then
again, wingbeat might be faster due to lighter load caused by less area and
the fact that the muscle mass would increase faster than the wing area as
size of bee was increased).
 
This can bee a complex engineering problem.  Heat dissipation,
circulation, skeletal strength and other many other factors would have to
be considered too -- including the size of the flowers they visit.
 
Of course these are extreme examples, but they illustrate a problem
related to scale that is often neglected when discussing the degree of
change that is possible by the above suggested methods.  And nonetheless,
they are operational even in small changes of bee size, I would expect.
 
Of course someone will say that bumblebees manage to fly even though
they vary in size quite drastically.  But of course thay are engineered
very differently and perhaps there is an optimal size for the bumblebee
design.  Maybe the smallest size is best and the queens are less
effective foragers?  Or maybe the queens are ideal and the early season
foragers are sub optimal?  Or maybe the design is detuned and the optimal
range extends over all sizes encoutered in practice?
 
Back to the honeybee: There have also been attempts to select for specific
body parts being larger: a longer tongue without other size differences
would appear to me to be a good improvement.  But then, the tongue does
have to fit into the head, so I guess nothing can be changed without
affecting something else (balance, space in the head for other parts,
etc.)
 
At any rate, I'll get to the point here:
 
The 'experts' all say that smaller bees are not good.  One should change
the combs regularly.
 
I have a confession to make:  I have changed only maybe 10% of my brood
combs over the *entire* last 10 years and my crops are getting bigger and
my wintering sucess and incidence of diseases is better every year.
 
At present, the only brood combs that are culled are the ones that won't
stay in the frame and the ones that are too warped to use next to as flat
frame.  We do add some good brood combs from supers and a bit of
foundation each year.
 
We use excluders on every hive and any comb that is no good for brood goes
up there.  Our supers have lots of dark comb and our honey always grades
water white. (Except for an amber flow that came in last fall)
 
When I changed brood combs regularly the bees did not do so well.
 
Personally, I think that the bees do something to brood combs that are in
the nest . That something disappears when they are rearranged or left
unused for a long time.  In order to do whatever it is, they require hot
weather and a flow.  That's why I never disturb the arrangements of brood
chambers after August in any hive I wish to winter.  If I do, they winter
badly and fail to build up in the spring.
 
*       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *
 
I heard this also from the chief inspector I worked for years ago - the
late Roger Topping.  He told of the time he went to work on his bees - he
only kept 100 hives, just enough to keep his hand in.
 
He went out in the fall - September - to ensure that the stores were
correctly asrranged for winter and went through about half the hives,
placing the feed whered the feed belongs, the pollen where the pollen
belongs, the empty comb where the empty comb belongs, the cluster where
the cluster belongs, etc.  But then he was called a way and never
finished.  When he returned, it was cold out and he had to just wrap them
and hope.
 
In the spring, he was astounde to find that the half he had 'helped'
suffered something like 50% loss and the ones he had not been able to get
to had virtually all survived.
 
*       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *
 
Lately I read that varroa require a certain space beside the larva to
decide to move into a cell.  I think I recall that people are even trying
different cell sizes to deal with this. (Smaller cells?)
 
I would like to hear some discussion on this from anyone who has any
insights.
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                        VE6CFK
Rural Route One   Swalwell   Alberta   Canada  T0M 1Y0
Email:   [log in to unmask]    or   [log in to unmask]
Futures, Art & Honey:http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka