In article <[log in to unmask]>, Garth
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>I have another theory. Old hives get cells which are packed with many
>layers of silk and the bees from these hives are smaller than from
>younger hives. The bees also would in theory hatch a bit faster due
>to the smaller size. Hence the mites would have to stay on the
>drones as they would not be able to complete alife cycle on the
>worker brood.
 
>this would als0o explaing why the hive in ahouse mentioned earlier
>was aslo alive -old hive, small cells.
 
Whilst not seeking to dispute the fact that many layers of silk do
remain on cell walls, in our experience this is of little importance.
 
We have a small number of combs in service here which are around 50
years old. We know this because they have a peculiar wiring system in
the form of a welded grid that we have never used since my father went
into bees in 1950. We do not notice these cells being appreciably
smaller than comparatively recent combs, yet they have probably had
around 200 generations of brood through them.
 
We also have some Pierco plastic frames in service which gave me cause
to doubt the 'fact' that bees leave the silk in the cells forever.
 
Each spring as the brood nest expands the bees seem to clean the cells
out and dump the fine brown dust outside. In the case of these combs,
they are completely black in the autumn after the breeding season, yet
immediately prior to being laid in in spring they are cleaned up to
white and translucent again in the base of the cells whereas the side
walls remain quite dark.
 
I would agree that old wax combs become ferociously tough and papery,
and that there are definitely lots of cocoons right into the base, but
would suggest that perhaps there is a tolerance level of the thickness
of midrib and cell wall material (or more likely cell size) the bees
will allow before having a partial clean out. The thickness of the
midrib in the plastic foundation may thus be a factor in them cleaning
these right out each spring.
 
We do have noticeable variations in bee size, but reckon that this is
more down to genetic variation and nutrition than anything else.
 
 
Murray
 
--
Murray McGregor