| A Biometrical Study
of the Influence of Size of Brood Cell Upon the Size and Variability
of the Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) by Roy A. Grout, 1931 |
| REVIEW OF LITERATURE 3. The enlarged cell controversy. With the invention of artificial comb foundation by Mehring, in 1857, a control of the size of the cells built by honeybees was first accomplished since it was discovered that the bees would build cells with the same dimensions as the imprint of the cell base upon the artificial foundation. The importance of his invention was the elimination of excess drone comb resulting in colonies composed almost entirely of worker comb. It also initiated a study of the exact size of the cells built by bees. According to Dadant (19), Collin measured the dimensions of cells and stated in 1865 that there were 854 cells per square decimeter. Langstroth repeated the experiment and calculated that there were 838 cells per square decimeter and Charles Dadant confirmed his results. According to Baudoux (8), the following are results concerning the size of the cells of natural comb: The house of Fratelli Piana in Italy calculated from measurements that there were 860 cells per square decimeter; another house in Italy measured comb from three different colonies and found that there was a considerable variation in the size of cells, namely 813, 807 and 854 cells per square decimeter. Baudoux measured combs taken from two different colonies and found that while the cells of one colony measured 854 cells per square decimeter, the cells from the other measured but 807 cells per square decimeter. Concerning the size of cells built by different races of bees, Pincot, according to Gillet-Croix (26), reports that the Italian race builds 764 cells per square decimeter, that the bees of Burgundy build 798, that the common black bee native to France builds 854 and that a "degenerated common bee" builds 924 cells per square decimeter. Halleux, in 1890, according to Szezawinski (65), calculated that the black native bees build 845 cells per square decimeter. Rambaldi (55) records the North African bee as building 940 cells per square decimeter. Baudoux (7), of Belgium, was the first to advocate the use of artificial foundation with an enlarged cell base. In 1893, he reports that a Mr. Fromont measured natural combs and found that the greater part had 825 cells per square decimeter in comparison with certain sheets of artificial foundation which had as high as 907 cells per square decimeter. Baudoux, struck by the reduction in the size of bees from an old skep containing combs having 912 cells per square decimeter, conceived the idea of raising bees in enlarged cells. He accomplished this by means of stretching normal foundation to the size he desired and had by 1896 sufficiently proved his point in Belgium, that a manufacturing company began to place upon the market artificial foundation having an enlarged cell base. It was Baudoux's contention that the nurse bees, following a natural instinct, filled the bottom of the larger cell more copiously with larval food, that this resulted in a larger bee, He also intimated that the larger bee would generate more body heat which would result in a greater quantity of brood. By means of stretching foundation, he experimented with various sizes of foundation having 750 cells per square decimeter, 740, 730, 710, 700 and down to 675 cells per square decimeter. By means of a glossometer he determined the tongue reach of his colonies and by means of a thoraxometer, the diameter of the thorax. He found that with an increase of 50 cells per square decimeter in the size of the foundation, there was a corresponding decrease of 0.5 mm. in the tongue reach. His thoraxometer gives a diameter of the thorax as 3.7 mm., 3.9 mm., 4.1 mm., and 4.3 mm. for the bees reared in cells built from foundation having respectively 850, 800, 750 and 700 cells per square decimeter. He arrived at the conclusion that foundation having 700 cells per square decimeter gave a bee which was superior in all its measurements to those reared in combs built from the smaller sizes. Independent of the work done by Baudoux, Pincot, according to Gillet-Croix (26), arrived at the idea of rearing bees in enlarged cells from a slightly different angle. Noticing the difference in size of the bees from a swarm placed on foundation and the bees of the parent stock reared in natural comb, Pincot came to the conclusion that this phenomenon was due to the natural cells being larger than those drawn from the foundation and actual measurements confirmed his theory. He then started experimenting with foundation having 736 cells per square decimeter and reports that during a two-year period 30 colonies using this size of foundation gathered approximately one-third more honey than did 30 colonies on normal foundation. In 1910 his apiaries were destroyed by a flood and Pincot was forced to abandon his experiments. Lovchinovskaya (39), of Russia, reports, after present investigations in 1930, that an investigation concerning the effect of enlarged cells upon the size and activity of the honeybee was undertaken in that country in 1925. For this purpose artificial foundation was made with an enlarged cell base of 5.85 mm. against 5.45 mm. in normal cells. The results of one experiment proceeding for 2 years with 10 colonies showed that the honeybees placed on the enlarged cells lived a normal life, both the worker bees and the queen worked normally. When only one frame of the enlarged cells was placed with nine frames of the normal size in a colony, the queen's attitude toward the enlarged cells was changed and she did not oviposit in the comb in spite of the fact that the bees worked upon it as they did on the other nine combs. When the reverse experiment was undertaken, with nine enlarged combs and one normal comb, the queen laid in the enlarged cells at once. Lovchinovskaya concludes that the worker bees regard with indifference the enlarged cells while the queen prefers the smaller cells. He continued extensive investigations and showed that: (1) Bees from the enlarged cells weigh more than bees reared in normal cells. (2) The average weight of bees for a singlt year varies according to the conditions operating during the year. (3) The enlarged bees as well as the normal bees are heaviest during May and decrease in weight during the next three months. (4) The weight of bees leaving the hive is greatest during the first half of the day. (5) The weight of emerging bees is between 5% and 6% greater for bees emerging from the large cells. (6) That the emerging bees of both groups weigh more than the old bees. (7) In the case of bees returning to the hive, the weight of enlarged bees exceeds the weight of normal bees by 10.7%, while in the case of bees leaving the hive, the enlarged bees exceed by only 4.8%. (8) The load carried in the honey stomach of the enlarged bee is 52.6% heavier than that carried by the normal bee. (9) That the normal bee carried a load equal to 14% of her own weight while an enlarged bee carries a load equal to 20.4% of her own weight. (10) From the results of one season, the bees reared in the large cells gather more honey than those reared in normal cells, but the production cannot be judged from the data of one season. |