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From: Erik Osterlund <honeybee@elgon.se>
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 22:24:49 +0100
To: BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: cell size measurement
At 07.01 -0700 02-01-05, Allen
Dick wrote:
>If
the genetics of the bees on small comb are not much, if at all
different,
>from the bees that are being raised on large cells as I have
heard claimed
>by the main proponent of small cell, and the queen cells
used are not
>constrictive, and the feed is not restricted, and if we can
assume that the
>feed for queens raised in large cell and small cell hives
must be the same
>(or else we would be getting caste effects), then how can
queens raised by
>small comb bees differ from queens raised by bees on large
comb?
It's a good question Allen
And I ask the same.
To be on the safe side when
downsizing, as it may well be somewhat
different functioning together in a colony with small cell sizes
and in a
colony with big cells, a queen's colony, if given the chance
to work on
both alternatives, may well function differently on them. So
maybe a colony
selected for breeding when on small cells, maybe shouldn't have
been
selected when on big cells. This is of course mere speculation
from my
point of view, but as I figure not a bad speculation, until we
know for
sure, if anyone takes the time to make an enough big test to
give the
answer. Again, to be on the safe side, I myself would prefer
therefore, if
given the choice, to buy queens from a queen breeder using small
cell
size, if I myself is downsizing my operation concerning cell
size.
Again, maybe not altogether
mere speculation. In my own operation, when I
gave 4.9-foundation (actually 4.8) to about 70 of my colonies,
only a few
managed to draw them nicely (all of my bees were then born in
5.4-5.5
cells). I choose to breed from some of those colonies (that was
2000), and
2001 the colonies headed by queens obtained from them were better
than
average in drawing 4.9-foundation nicely. So drawing small cell
size nicely
is not only due to in which cell size the workers are born, but
also due to
genetics. Anything else would actually be a surprize to me.
Best regards
Erik
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