Jerry Bromenshenk wrote as part of a message on Queen quality ie. running
queens,a reference to_ thermal regulation_ within the cluster. Sorry to be
long winded but I inadvertatly deleted the message!!! Uoops!
        Anyway...... Dr. Nasr did a lot of work on this, as he wanted to
know why we lost hives with T-mites in the winter, here in the north and not
so many in the south.
        He took bees with various infestations of T-mites into a temp
control unit, set it up to measure the amout of Oxygen consumed. It seems
that as the temp. went down the bees Oxygen requirments increased. The
healthy bees consumed more and kept warm. The infested bees did not (or
could not) increase their need at very low temps. at -20C they were dead.
Makes you think???
   ************************************************************
   * David J. Eyre CEO    9, Progress Drive, Unit 2,     *
   * The Beeworks        Orillia, Ont, Canada, L3V 6H1 *
   * [log in to unmask]    (705) 326 7171           *
   * http://www.muskoka.net/~beeworks                     *
   *************************************************************