Hi Everyone,
First a quote from the 1945 ABC & XYZ page 127 a section entitled "Queens and Bees Prefer Normal Size of Cells"
"A.I. Root, in the early seventies, and later M. T. Pritchard and H. H. Root tried out various sized cells in honey comb.  Clearly it was shown that when the worker cells were too small, five to the linear inch, bees and the queen , when given a choice, preferred the larger sized cells, 4.83 to the linear inch.  Conversely, when the cells are too large, there are difficultied that counter-balance the good."
This appears to be the Roots conclusion to the cell size debate that was ongoing at that time.  It is interesting that they actually gave the bees the choice of different sizes and settled on the size most prefered by the bees.  They are talking about a cell size of 5.2 mm or to comb with 825 to 850 cells per square decimeter as the prefered size for most bees.

Now I try to show how a different conclusion can be reached based on the information given in this cell size debate.  This is somewhat speculative but is given to show that the observations can have more than one explanation.  First here are the observations this is based on:
1.  The Lusbys have been selecting for bees that tolerate varroa by raising queens from survivor colonies for about 8 years.
2.  Part way through this 8 year period the feral honey bees in southern AZ US became africanized as the AHB continued its range expansion from Mexico.
3.  The Lusbys have used and still use swarms from feral colonies in their operation.
4.  Erickson et all have shown that it is possible to select a honey bee that is increasingly tolerant to varroa by breeding from colonies with the lowest varroa infestation levels - August ABJ.
5.  In their selection program, the Lusbys first moved to foundation with cell size around 5.1 to 5.0 mm and then to 4.9 mm foundation as that is what they felt their bees prefered.

Now my interpretation of these observations:

First, the Lusbys are keen observers of their bees and have let the bees tell them what they ( the bees ) prefer.  After 8 years of selecting colonies that have survived in the face of varroa they do indeed have bees that are tolerant of varroa.  In view of Erickson's published research on their results on selection for varroa tolerance for 4 years it just seems only reasonable that the Lusby's longer selection would result in greater varroa tolerance in their bees.  When the Lusbys first started their selection the local feral population was European and prefered cells in the 5.2 to 5.0 mm size range.  The bees therefore showed a preference for foundation that was smaller than the common 5.4 mm size being sold.  This was the observation that led them to move to this normal size for their bees.  A few years later, however, the local feral population and their own bees became Africanized and showed a preference for the still smaller 4.9 mm foundation.

So in conclusion it appears to me that the bees became smaller and therefore prefered 4.9 mm cells not that the cell size itself caused all the observed effects.  The varroa and disease resistance or tolerance the Lusbys have in their bees is the result of their strong selection for these desirable traits in their bees for the last 8 years.  They have shown that the selection process described by Erickson will indeed work if given enough time by capable and observant beekeepers.

That in a nutshell is my view on the Lusbys situation.  Some will not agree which is fine but I really don't think everything can be laid to rest on cell size alone.   In fact, based on the cell size theory, those of us further north than southern AZ  USA should be using larger cell size for our bees.

FWIW

blane


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Blane White
MN Dept of Agriculture
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