Allen Dick wrote:

> >>>>>>>
>  they all agreed that larger cells and new comb do not
> necessarily produce larger bees, so that explanation is out.  Another thought
> was that  the coastal humidity changed the chitinous shell somewhat.  I have
> another insight: maybe the early bees were not well nourished and a bit stunted,
> but a later generation that took over at about the time Jerry noticed were
> better fed and larger.

"Our" bees are smaller than in the past in the southwestern U.S. The desert-adapted
feral bees I collected from 1987-1993 were not necessarily small; in fact, some were
quite large ( around 9.22 mm forewing length). We have virtually no large bees here
now. It would seem reasonable to expect different results with pollen traps. I have
tried unsuccessfully for 3 years to interest anybody in testing different screen or
hole sizes for our evolving "commercial" bee. Queen excluders need a fresh look,
also. To date all I have accumulated are comments such as "we'll have to do that
sometime". If you search the archives, you will find I have beaten this horse
before, and it still won't run.
-----------------------------------------------------------
John F. Edwards
Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
2000 E. Allen Road
Tucson, Arizona 85719