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Subject:
From:
Scot Mc Pherson <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Mon, 16 Oct 2006 22:21:41 -0500
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Peter,
	The upsizing of bees is documented all over the magazines and
literature of the period....

And lets just say it is a pet...why is it that when bees are allowed to
build their own comb, it's smaller than conventional foundation cell
sizes, and why is it that if you shake them down again out of comb back
to foundationless building their own comb it gets smaller still until
you get an average that falls between 4.8 and 4.9mm with core brood comb
closer to 4.6 and larger brood comb no larger than 5.1mm?

The above is READILY reproduceable by anyone...And it only take one try
to see the step in downsizing, and only waiting say 8 weeks and doing it
again on the same bees to see the downsizing yet again...on a
foundationless system...no foundation is needed to see it for yourself
that bees naturally tend toward smaller size than what we put in our
hives as an industry....

With all due respect, you need to do some research before you call
something a pet....


Oh...Dee lives in southern Arizona...that's pretty south....I lived in
Southwest Florida, that's even further south...I had no winters to speak
of...2 or 3 weeks at most of freezing weather, bees working all year
round.

--
Scot McPherson
The McPherson Family Honey Farms
Davenport, Iowa USA

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