In a message dated 03/03/2010 21:44:10 GMT Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

Can they  not also build various-sized worker cells as they see  fit?



This is something you can judge for yourself by measuring what your own  
bees do.  The conventional way is to measure across 10 cells the shortest  way 
(across flats) in millimetres and divide the result by 10.  If you are  
going to do a lot of it, it might be worth while making a measuring tool from a 
 piece of card with a truncated V cut out with lines to cover the usual  
range of cell sizes.
 
Whether your frames are the 'warm' or the 'cold' way might make a  
difference. On my top bar hive where the combs are the warm way (parallel with  the 
front of the hive) the average cell size is greater at the front and rear  
than in the middle. Shown on a graph the peaks and troughs, when smoothed 
out,  produce a shallow U shape. Contrary to expectation, you don't always get 
the  same measurements back to back on the same comb.
 
Measurements across the combs - top right to middle to bottom left -  also 
showed variation: in this instance an average of just over 5.3 mm towards  
the outside of the comb and a little under 5.2 in the middle.
 
Chris

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