All true. Yes, they generally do shrink some during the winter as well... they bulk back up over the spring, the more they lay, the more they swell. We actually ran a small study on this a few years back... we wanted to investigate a theory that smaller queens were faster fliers and thus the only drones that could catch them to mate were the healthiest and most athletic, thus creating better foragers... the results were that it seemed to be mainly the smaller drones that could catch and grasp the queens... another of natures ways of helping strains to maintain their purity. Size does matter, as long as the queen is sized proportionally for her strain. Ultimately, you were most likely seeing the smaller queens (later build up) and larger queens (earlier build up). Sound about right for what you saw in the colonies, or is it still too early to really tell?
