>... the other 6 or so resistance mechanisms,
>cell size (cell attractivenesses)  may only be one of them.

Am I wrong in observing that every independent scientific
attempt to prove that small cell works against varroa has
proven the opposite, or not been able to reach a conclusion
one way or the other?  SC has not been proven to be a
"resistance mechanism".

>Weather you are for or against small cell.
>By your statement above,  and by others
>who have stated the same...

Most readers of this list expect proof for claims.  The assumption
that because a person has not yet seen convincing proof that small
cells are beneficial -- or even good beekeeping practice for EHB, that
the person is necessarily "for or against" seems to me to be  -- polarizing
and simplistic.  What ever happened to giving credit for being being
open-minded, but also hard to dupe?

Pete, I think we all know, is advocating exactly what you seem to infer he
is not. He is just skeptical about small cell.  He is in pretty good company
in that regard.

Many of us have been observing the SC phenomenon and are of the
opinion that small cell is a distraction from teaching really helpful practices.

(Aside) That said, some of us are of the opinion tho' that reducing cell size
in brood comb can be beneficial, but only down to 5.1mm or so for EHB. If
the same comb is to be used for supers, though, it may be less than
ideal and somewhere in the 5.2 to 5.3 mm range is a good compromise.

I'd like to see a comparison done between various sizes of brood comb.  We
did a cursory study which seemed to show that 5.25 was better than larger
for our purposes.

> There is NO DOUBT that the small cell movement is applying 'great
>pressure' on the bee clubs of America to promote a more sustainable
>approach to beekeeping.

I think that it is a mistake to equate the pressure towards sustainable
beekeeping with the small cell movement.  There has always been a
'natural methods' movement.

>IMO, they are not "for small cell" they are for a more
>organic type practice of beekeeping.  

Exactly.  That is what I am saying.

> So far, small cell is the only thing new-bees can wrap their
>hands around, because, sustainable beekeeping
>methods are not often promoted by the bee clubs.

Again the issues are being confused here.  They are separate.  Moreover,
when we examine who 'sustains' more bees -- the small cell aficionados
or the commercial beekeepers who feed them -- the the hypocrisy becomes
evident.

>They want candy? ,,,give it to them,,, respond to the
>demand and teach them alternative approaches to
>beekeeping which rely on breeding and organic methodry.

There are people doing just that, but we do not know the results.  What
we need is a study that examines the question and whether the so-called
alternative and so-called sustainable approaches are effective on any
kind of significant scale or if they are a religion which is sustained only by the
continuing cash and labour contributions of the faithful.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm