We have had considerable exchange about size dimensions in natural honey
bee combs, with some fret about what might have been the case before the
advent of manufactured foundation.


   On p. 261 in my 1845 copy of Thomas Nutt's book, HUMANITY TO BEES... I
found the following description of cell size in natural comb:

******

   "The depth of the brood-cells of drones and working Bees is about half
an inch; their diameter is more exact, that of the drone-cells being three
lines and one third, that of the workers two lines and three fifths.
These, says Reaumer, are the invariable dimensions of all the cells, that
ever were, or ever will be made."

*******

   An inch is twelve lines, for those who would like to do the math.

   We all know, though, that cells would have an AVERAGE width, with some
standard deviation about that average.

                                                        Adrian

Adrian M. Wenner                    (805) 963-8508 (home phone)
967 Garcia Road                     (805) 893-8062  (UCSB FAX)
Santa Barbara, CA  93106  [http://www.beesource.com/pov/wenner/index.htm]

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*
*    "We not only believe what we see:
*  to some extent we see what we believe."
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*                           Richard Gregory (1970)
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