Hi Folk

Was off bush for the weekend - apologies if my answers are stale...

At 21/09/01, Bob wrote:

>Although I believe the small cell theory needs
>looked at further I do not believe it is fair to
>say the theory has NOT been looked at...
>Quote from Dadants ... "Mites of the Honey
>Bee" page 200:

>..."Just the opposite seems to be true.
>Larger cells have fewer mites."

How odd - did these researchers find less varroa in drone comb then?

>..."There seems to ba a correlation between
>the height of the cell and the number of mites
>witin those cells; the cells with the greater
>distance between the larva and the RIM
>having fewer varroa mites."

When did anyone make any claims about cell height (by which i assume you mean
depth, rather than the diameter measured vertically)?  The issue is clearly understood to
be regarding cell width, as usually determined by foundation, and generally
acknowledged to have been deliberately enlarged this century (how much enlarged is
still arguable).  Is this a smokescreen Bob?

>...The source of the information is from a study
>done in 1993 by Ramon and Van Laere named
>"Size of comb cell and Reproduction of Varroa
>Jacobsoni"... found the height of the cell produced
>fewer varroa while the width did not( Ramon &
>Van Laere 1993).

I shouldn't even snap at red-herrings but my understanding was that this study
compared 5.45 with 5.9 diameter cells, and had very few 'data-points'.  I have also heard
of studies which say the opposite - that protruding cells are preferentially parasitized -
just like is generally accepted with regard to drone cells.

Apples and oranges have little to do with 4.9.  Can you point me to research into the
effects of 4.9 cell-size on varroa reproduction?  I would dearly love to read it.

-Pav, keeping that mischievous Bob on topic.
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