Hi Peter


> Seeley and Morse do not say, so I am assuming that
> they didn't consider the variation to be significant, .......
> It boils down to *significant* differences. Plus or minus
> .1 mm would be significant;

In which case the link which Chris posted to Dave's measurements of Chris' bees' comb shows, by your definition, significant variation (4.9 to 5.3, rounded to the nearest decimal point).

Perhaps making assumptions from the things people don't say isn't so wise?!

Dennis Murrell shows a single brood comb, in the brood area, varying from 4.6 to 5.4 mm, a range far beyond your limit of 0.1mm.

http://bees.farvista.net/scom.htm

all the best

Gavin

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