On 24 Oct 97 at 11:32, Garth wrote:
 
> I do't want to sound silly here but I would think the easiest way of
> telling if a hive is africanised is to look at the cell size. Should
> be about 5mm for all african bees, whereas it varies for euuro bees
> but is usually a bit higher. Mine are about 4.3mm, which means that
> they dont draw the AHB foundation I buy too well so I use a ver
> small strip at the top of each frame. Onne can see the transition
 
I had just got off the phone talking with someone in Arizona on this
very subject of cell size when I received the above from Garth. They
stated a correlation between cell size and Varroa infestation. It
seems they are putting Euro bees in smaller cell foundation and not
treating Varroa with any chemicals or medication. Could the AHB
foundation and smaller cell size be the answer?
        But the Garth says that his Euro bees don't draw the foundation too
well, meaning I suppose that our bees need larger cells?
        Discussion please!
 
 
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