At 06:59 PM 10/20/1998 -0300, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>In http://biology.dbs.umt.edu/bees/home6.htm it says:
>"PC BEEPOP is versatile and user-friendly. We designed it for use on any =
>IBM-compatible computer with a hard disk, 640k of available memory, and =
>a graphics adapter card. Pull-down menus facilitate the entry of initial =
>honey bee colony size and age structure, foraging profiles, and factors =
>that influence rates of birth, longevity, and morality..."
>
>I'm really interested on knowing what are the main factors that =
>influence bee's rate of morality.
 
The model removes bees after a user adjusted "flight life" and uses real
weather files to determine when individual bees have used up their flight
life.  This is "normal" life span factor.
 
The user can then enter any number of predation, parasitism, pesticide
events, programming the course of events.  For example, one can simulate a
spray event whereby a toxic pesticide kills 40% of the forager bees on the
day of application and then have the model vary the residual chemical
toxicity over a period of 1 to several days.
 
 
>
>Would "queenlessness" be one?
 
Definitely, and you could simlulate that.
 
  How about drones/queen ratio?
 
The model generates drones/queen ratio from the populations growth curve as
influenced by weather and external events.
 
 
The model also can take into account events such as space limitations and
food shortages.
 
 
 
Having said that, we are not currently distributing the model.  It runs
under the older DOS programs, refuses to display its menus under Windows 95
or 98, although it appears to work under Windows NT.
 
When we complete our new research, using artificial neural networks to
train models to real colonies and real conditions such as weather and
exposure to toxic chemicals, we will revamp Beepop.
 
Jerry
>
>Regards,
>
>Horacio Villa
>Buenos Aires - Argentina
>
>(I know it's a typo; it's just a good one)
>
>
Jerry J. Bromenshenk, Ph.D.
Director, DOE/EPSCoR & Montana Organization for Research in Energy
The University of Montana-Missoula
Missoula, MT  59812-1002
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel:  406-243-5648
Fax:  406-243-4184
http://www.umt.edu/biology/more
http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees