From: "Helmut,E.Garz" <hommes@olympus.net>
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 17:45:43 -0800
To: BiologicalBeekeeping@egroups.com
Subject: Re: cell size in supers

Hi !
I had the opportunity to dismantle several feral hives.
There was no evidence that the queen preferred newer combs for breeding.
As a matter of fact all the newer combs were honey storage.
Also contrary to hearsay that we should cull old combs , because of the
danger of contamination over time, the evidence in nature does not point
into this direction. Furthermore, I am cleaning equipment in preparation
for the coming season and I found old salvaged combs from feral hives
which I utilized and measured the cells. The worker cell size turns out
to be 5 m/m maximum inside measure and minimum 4.5 m/m . The origin of
the race of bees is not known but the color was mixed with the tendency
toward the darker side.
Also I got word today that information given to me relative to the %
varroa a bee can live with is NOT 2 Mites per bee. I will relay the
corrected figure in future posts.It is much less than that !!!!!
I appreciated Dee's comments of her management features and the thought
behind it.
Helmut, E Garz