Hi all,

> 5)  I think that the person that did these tests was in much
>      the same boat I find myself.  Clearly what could have been
>      of use would have been better descriptions and definitions
>      of exactly what "small cell" entails.  (For example, Clay Huestis
>      made an excellent start of laying out some basic facts
>      in his post of Saturday, Dec 7, 2002).  I'm not sure that
>      the person who did the tests described really understood
>      even as much as was explained by Clay.

reply:

That was the quick version too. After having read the study myself  it
became clear to me that those that performed the tests didn't go through the
process of regression. Starting with bees on 5.4 sizing and jumping to 4.6
through 5.0 in a season just doesn't happen. It has been my experience that
bees will not step down more than .2 to .3mm per season at most, along with
transitioning each and every step.  In my previous post I didn't mention
that you need the bees to go through at least 2 brood cycles per step. It is
these new bees that make the next generation of bees to step down not the
old field bees, cycle repeats.

> 6)  As an aside, if more "small cell" posts were written like
>      Clay's, small cell would have MUCH more credibility
>      among the general beekeeping public.

reply:
 I try to remain rather silent on the subject on this list even though I'm
one of the proponets of small cell beekeeping . I've been flamed to many
times.  Actually I consider small cell range to be 4.7 or so and less. 4.8mm
to 5.05mm to be about the middle range. I base this on reading and studying
old books such as the Roots, Wedmore, Cowan, Philips, ect......everything I
do I try to have studied and make a reasonable guess or answer for what I'm
doing and why I'm doing it. I'm no scientist and can only talk field
management of bees. All I can tell is my observations, what I have done,
lots of what doesn't work in regressing bees, and a bit that does. For the
record and newbees, there is nothing easy about regressing bees. There are
more aspects to small cell beekeeping than just the cell size. Not only does
one have to regress but also breed bees. You need to spend time watch there
behaviors, and choosing colonies with consistent small subcastes as these
regress the best. Not to mention know what triggers in the season that
effect different size cell drawing,  when is the best window for getting
small cells drawn?, when small cells can't be drawn? It is a hard thing for
me to say " this is how you do it".  No two colonies are the same they are
all unique when it comes to regressing there is no magic chants or such. Its
all hands on learning, after awhile you get a feel for things. As for small
cell beekeeping here's a few things I know about.What to do with all those
transition combs and culls?  How to render those combs without rewiring?
How to mill the wax back into foundation? I know the window of small cell
drawing for "MY" area. The general procedure to regress (I posted this).
What to do with the 2% of colonies that won't regress? How to work the combs
in the hives to places of advantage and how and where to move culls to
places for removal? How to put bees back on non-artifical feeds and have
heavy hives for wintering and make honey?  What kind of losses can be
expected when switching to small cell?  Different bee behaviors, or
behaviors that are magnified? Winter cluster thermoregulation of SC bees (my
theory only)? I have "every" colony at stake here so I take SC beekeeping
rather seriously. I will never write any studies, nor probably publish too
much.  Only thing I'm looking to make is honey, some pollen, and healthy
bees.  So if anyone has questions about small cell beekeeping just ask?  If
I don't know the answer, I'll say so.

regards,

Clay