> We have been over this and over this.  There has been *no* universal 
> upsizing of bees in the Americas.

Perhaps I missed the announcement of some sort of compelling proof
in support of Allen's statement, if so, I'd love to hear about it.

I do know that Ohio State University has a bee museum at the OARDC
facility in Wooster Ohio, and this museum houses several very old
foundation mills.  I did not take measurements from these mills 
myself, but I asked Dave Heilman (who, until budget cutbacks, worked
for Jim Tew) for access to these mills for taking measurement several 
years ago.

Dave told me that I need not bother, that he had taken measurements,
and they clearly were mills designed to make smaller-celled foundation
than the current type of foundation offered for sale by the major vendors.

I plan on going to the Tri-County meeting this March, which is held at
the OARDC facility, so if there is any doubt on this point, I will be
happy to take a micrometer, and a digital camera to measure any
dimensions anyone wants to specify.  (I realize that there was some
debate on even how to measure cells "properly", so I'd rather hear from
others as to how they'd like it done.  E-mail me.)

I'm not making any claims about "small-cell bees" here, I'm just pointing
out that actual hardware of well-known pedigree and age is available for
inspection, and echoing what a reliable person told me about his
measurements.


 

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