Hello Layne and Everyone,

>What happens when you take bees that have been "regressed"to 4.9 small
cell foundation and have been on >it for some time, and then allow then
free rein, like in a top bar hive,

I've done it. Check it out at:

www.geocities.com/usbwrangler/obs2.htm

The measurements are towards the bottom of the page. Overall, about 20%
of the comb is small cell, 20% is drone and the remainder is large cell.
Specifically, comb in the core broodnest area is about 40% small cell
with larger cell size toward the top and periphera of the core area.
Drone comb is toward the exterior of the broodnest.

Small cell comb is only drawn in the core of the broodnest. Small cell
foundation place outside that area is reworked to a larger size. Large
cell size foundation is readily accepted just about anywhere in the hive.
A behavior that probably wasn't overlooked by the foundation industry.

It's interesting to note that the bees raised on small cell comb drew out
the larger cell sizes. The bees raised in these larger cell sizes then
constructed the small cell comb about 6 weeks later.

Check out my conclusions at:

www.geocities.com/usbwrangler/conc.htm

They're a little different than many would expect from much of what is
debated about small cell. It seems that bees are quite able to construct
the worker cell size they need just where they want it. It's not
surprising since they can constuct a full range of cell sizes from queen
to much smaller than a worker size where ever they choose. The broodnest
has a definate structure and the bees are able to determine just what
size goes where.

It's interesting to think about because each cell is constructed by many
individual bees, yet somehow, they can independantly determine just what
cell size is needed. If they couldn't, no coherent structure could be
built as each bee does just a small part of the job.

I've run small cell hives and reported the results here at bee-l. The
bees can handle the mites quite effectively with small cell comb but it
appears the a range of cell size is ideal.

I have placed these same bees from the top bar hive into a large cell
hive in August. Next season they will go back into the top bar hive
again.

Regards
Dennis

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::