Dick Marron wrote:
>>>> If they went to the desert they needed to become smaller and be able to
>survive long spells of hot, dry weather.<<<<

>Here's a great chance for a scientist/math major type to chime in and prove
that larger bees hold more moisture per unit of mass.

Well, that's not me. But maybe you'd like to try to explain why A. m.
lamarckii (Egypt) and A. m. yemenitica (all across African from West Sahara
to Saudi Arabia) are the smallest bees and the bees of the colder climates
(A. m. carnica, etc.) are the biggest? And don't tell me it's because they
were artificially enlarged by honeycomb foundation. I don't buy that one. 

But remember, the colony is the unit, and the make or break period in
northern climes is probably winter, when the bees are inside. As for the
desert bees, it may be colonies that can shrink down to very small units and
bounce back that are favored ...

pb

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