> Question: Has any research been done on how small a cell she will lay in
> before she refuses to lay and would the workers produced be indeed smaller?

I'm not going to answer this question, but go the other way -- bigger, first.

I had always thought that it did not matter how big the cell was -- within
reason -- as long as it was large enough to contain the larva and then pupa
without constraining it.  I know that Christine Peng raised bees without using
comb *at all* for a lab project.

I never did subscribe to the idea that bigger cells beyond natural size would
make bigger bees.  If the cell is big enough, it is big enough.  Beyond that,
there get to be fewer cells on a comb surface, and the bees cannot cover them as
well as if they were more compact, and maybe the temperature in each cell might
be a little less, too.  Recent non-mainstream research is showing that maybe big
cells allow room for varroa to do their dirty work in a way they could not in a
smaller cell.

I have guessed that too small a cell could have the same effect that wrapping a
girl child's feet did in China in the past -- restricted development, but not
that increasing space could somehow cause the larva to expand beyond the size
that genetics and nutrition determine.  I don't know how small is too small.  I
should think the bees would know, so maybe we should be asking them.  Of course,
they may have some problems showing their true sizes, since we mix them all
together in one yard and they cross breed.  It may be much like a toy poodle
trying to have pups from an Irish Wolfhound.

I am wondering if James Satterfield is following all this, because he is in a
natural position to tell us all how big a cell should be.  He has a group of
friends all over that raise their bees on 100% natural comb on the top bar
hives.  I'd like to get a non official survey of what the *natural* cell size is
in bees around America and the world that are not on foundation.

The (best) way is to measure across ten contiguous cells with a metric ruler
(from flat sides to flat side) and divide that measure by ten to get the size of
an average cell in mm.  It is also a good idea to measure in several places on
the comb and at several angles to get an average.  Moreover only the actual
brood comb is of interest.  The edges and honey areas will have larger cells.
The range of sizes experienced on one comb is of interest, because it is the
theory of some that the cell size is critical.  I think, frankly that it is not,
and that the same bees will build cells in a range of sizes and shapes on the
same comb -- and be perfectly happy.

allen
---
"If I make a living off it, that's great--but I come from a culture
where you're valued not so much by what you acquire but by what you
give away," -- Larry Wall (the inventor of Perl)