Hello Dennis!

The nest:
http://birdbanding.blogspot.com/2006/11/honeybee-hive-at-ruthven.html

I’m finding it difficult to to make any accurate conclusions of cell size 
variation from the last (5th) pic, maybe my sight is not so good. :)  But 
I was able to enlarge the 4th pic and compare cell sizes from the lower 
most cells to the top most cells, and did not detect measurable difference 
in cell size.  Although I’m not disputing that the sizes may be varying 
slightly, it just seems not large enough a difference to be measured at 
this scale.  I do however see what appears to be larger cells in the 
foremost comb in pic number 4 and larger drone cells on the second comb 
inward.

David asked about measuring bee space, which is very fascinating in this 
nest and others of this type.  From looking at a small natural nest I have 
here in the house and in my own colonies.  Bee space in a less traffic 
area in capped honey can be as narrow as ‘around!’ 5/16 from 'cap to 
cap'.  But in broodnest, where bee traffic is heavy on both combs, bee 
space increases from ‘around!’ ½ to 5/8.  And out at the perimeter of this 
open air nest, it appears a bee space of 1 inch or more is prevalent.  So 
the question is, might bee space between comb be regulated by the need to 
facilitate traffic flow, congestion, or maybe the need to keep bee space 
in the broodnest narrow enough to aid in essential brood nest functional 
communications and not so important for communication at the perimeters 
where it is build wider, intresting? 


Best Wishes,

Joe Waggle 
Ecologicalbeekeeping.com 
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
Feral Bee Project:
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/

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