Hi Dee, Dee wrote: >Reply: This I disagree with... >But to refresh you on the three parts I/we key to for environment (cell >size), diet, and breeding you can go to: > http://www.beesource.com/POV/lusby/ >and there you will find a FREE book I wrote years ago with about 22 chapters >or so, now that probably needs updating and final chapters finsihed/added. My two cents worth: I am quite familiar with your text and the three parts upon which small cell beekeeping rests. Most of the material there describes how to get bees back to a natural small state from an artificially enlarged state that is presumed to currently exist. As I see it, this is the very basis for most of the field management techniques you have described there. You have written alot about the downsides I've mentioned in previous posts. Yet, I found that bees naturally and freely draw out small cell size comb at the proper location in a broodnest. This small cell size is the result of a constant taper the bees incorporate into broodnest comb. And all different kinds/sizes of bees will do it regardless of their breed or the size of comb they were raised on. Bees from your backyard, from mine, from Davids, from Barrys, all behaved the same regarding comb construction. They all built small cell sized comb. And it's amazing that they all built just about the same amount of it. Bees don't construct one size worker cell either large or small. For photos of that taper see: http://wind.prohosting.com/tbhguy/bee/comb.htm But they build a range of cell sizes that are well within the range of worker foundation that has been produced in the US. And this is nothing new. Check out what A.I. Root had to say about natural cell size and foundation size: http://wind.prohosting.com/tbhguy/bee/abcxyz.htm What I concluded from his observations can be read at: http://wind.prohosting.com/tbhguy/bee/musin.htm And I have found that all different kinds of bees I think small cell beekeeping works so well because the cell size is a better approximation to the cell size in the core area of the broodnest. This is the area the bees cluster on during the winter and where the first and last brood of the season are raised. I also think the downside associated with getting small cell foundation drawn out are caused by the very poor aproximation it provides for the rest of a natural broodnest with its larger sized cells. If bees have been artifically enlarged and only construct one kind of worker cell, then all that Dee has written, about getting bees back to their natural size/state, is essential to experience the benefits of small cell. But if bees naturally construct cells within the small cell size range, then much of the field management associated with small cell beekeeping which negates the effect of enlarged bees is not necessary. I've had both of these experiences. And prefer the latter. My field management is not plagued with problems of getting small cell comb drawn, comb rotations, regressing bees, areas of influence, etc. Or on the other hand, it isn't plagued by slow spring build, poor overwintering, and no mite tolerance, etc., either. The Lusby's were the first to stress the importance of cell size to colony health and function. To those of us who have tried it, it's no longer a question of IF bees on small cell size comb can prosper and survive. But I think beekeepers can avoid much of downside if the HOWS and the WHYS are considered. Dee and I respectively differ on these. Regards Dennis :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::