old literature regarding cell size

[Barry]

Here are some interesting excerpts regarding cell size from some old bee books.
http://www.bee-l.com/biobeefiles/osterlund/index.htm

Regards,
Barry

[Clayton]

Hi Barry,

Got any from Wedmore and Philips as they also agree on 5 cells to the inch. I will look and see if Jay Smith also says 5 cells to the inch.

Clay

[Michael Bush]

References like the Cowan one where the measurments are across 10 cells apparently to 100th of an inch are very useful. I'm not so sure about measurements like "5 to a inch, 4 1/2 to an inch and 4 to an inch" they sound accurate only to half the width of a cell in an inch. They could be 4 3/4 or 5 1/4 to a inch and we couldn't tell by these measurements. Still most of this is supportive of the fact that the worker brood cells were smaller.

Really interesting references. Thanks.

[Michael Bush]

I have an "ABC XYZ of Beekeping" 38th Edition printed in 1980. Not very old, but has a whole section on the cell sizes measured by AI Root, what size foundation they used to make, the experiments by Ursmar Baudoux in 1893 on larger cell sizes etc.

AI Root's conclusion is the bees prefer and do better on natural sized cells.

There is 3 1/2 pages on the subject, most of which is already quoted in Dee's work.