Peter is making use of his access to reference material, however I differ
with him in his conclusions. Regardless of my own thoughts on the small cell
debate, some things are not as they appear and need closer attention for
fuller understanding.

>Despite the fact that many researchers
>have concurred that European bees make comb with worker cells that
>average around 53 mm (Taber & Owens, Michener),

this in and of itself proves nothing. European bees can have cell sizes
anywhere from 4.7 to 5.8 mm. How did they arrive at this? Any bees used
would have some bias to previous cell size. The only way I see toget some
certainty on a particular bunch of bees is to go up and down in size and
then let them build ther own for several generations to see what they settle
on. Everything I've ever heard others say is that they will always go
smaller, not bigger than what they were on before. I don't know if this has
ever been tested at the smaller size range or not, but at least bees from
the middle to large sizes go smaller when they are left to their own comb
building. It has a similiar ring to the discussion on ahb. Just because
something is written in some article doesn't make it gospel. we should dig
deeper and ask more questions of what's on the surface.

>some people contend
>that this size reflects an artificial enlargement *caused* by the use
>of foundation based on larger than natural dimensions. This idea
>itself is based on a faulty understanding of biology (externally
>induced characteristics are not passed on to offspring).

theres no need for it to be "passed on." The foundation is always there to
keep things where they are. until extensive testing is done on bees without
the use of foundation, we won't really know.  and don't use the argument of
feral bees being used as feral bees come from managed hives and managed
hives use foundation.

>researchers as early as 1973 indicating European bees in the tropics
>built cells ranging from 5.0 to 5.4 mm.

I said before bees will build a much wider range than this. it seems the key
is to ask where in the hive are these cells being measured from and what
difference does it make if we end up finding that bees on the 4.9 or
whatever size can deal with the mite on their own compared to bees on a
different size? we know 5.4 doesn't work. so what are you suggesting?

mark

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