Hi to all on BEE-L

 Dave wrote:
>IT DOES NOT MEAN... That the cellsize is a fundemental
quantity that
>conclusions can be drawn
>from.

Peter Borst Replied:
I don't see how you got here. It is well know that the size
of the
cell is correlated to the size of the bee. Apis cerana is a
small
honey bee and makes small cells (range=3.6 to 4.9,  Crane
1990). They
require smaller cell foundation than European Apis
mellifera
(range=5.1 to 5.5, Crane 1990).

Reply:
I would like to add a little here. F. Ruttner in his paper
"Characteristics and variability of Apis Cerana" pointed
out that "Contrary to the customary assumption, A. cerana
is not generally a small bee when compared with A.
mellifera. This frequently held opinion holds true only
when A. cerana is compared with European A. mellifera."

Now this is a comparison of a feral sized naturally
occuring type of honeybee (A. cerana) to an artificialized
oversized domesticated genericaly run together name
representing all races/strains of European honeybees in my
POV.

This POV of mine is taken from T.W. Cowans's 1904 "The
Honey Bee: Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology"
Chapter XXIV, in which it is written that Cowan measured
the natural combs of honeybees in England, Italy,
Switzerland, Canada and the United States showing a range
that does indeed very well encompass A. cerana
measurements.

Also for more measurements along the same vein of thought
Cowan suggests readers to read: Bevan, Dr E. "The Honey
Bee, 1838, and F. Huber, Nouvelles observations sur les
Abeilles, 1814 (and other editions).

Maybe this will help you see better Daves remarks, which I
myself have found quite "good".

Regards,

Dee A. Lusby

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