Anybody using natural drawn comb??

[Finman]

the best way to judge the size of your bees is to measure the comb, right?......

You are better to try this

 

[drumgerry]

Ok Rab - I'm going to keep this polite and I hope you can do likewise.

Just trying to clarify - are you saying that varying levels of frame spacing has an influence on bee size? That is the depth of the cells from midrib to capping? That's not something I've heard about before and I'd be interested to hear more. My assumption is that's not something the bees vary greatly but I guess they do so with queen cells so why not with workers. Is there any source material where I can read about this?

 

[Drew]

the best way to judge the size of your bees is to measure the comb, right?......

Well, not exactly/entirely - it might also depend on the pitch of the frames (not read or understood my previous posts?).

Well possibly if you feel it isn't understood you might explain it.

 

[Norton]

So we look other domestic animals. In India there is smallest cow race. It is 100 kg.
Normal milking cow is nowadays 800-1000 kg. Finland had cow race about 300 kg.

Hello Finman,
Don't worry the sun is returning and spring will soon be there. The first swallows arrived here 2 weeks ago!

I thought that the smallest cows were found on Socotra island. Probably the oldest land mass in the world.

 

[Finman]

.
Thanks! I have never heard about those isles.
http://just--wow.blogspot.fi/2008/09/another-world-on-socotra-island.html

"When it occupied the Portuguese Navy, the island of Socotra built a small castle and settled in the area of Alswoq, and brought the Portuguese colonialists with cows Friesian Dutch famous, and, after pulling out of the island left the cows and take-sponsors of Socotra and brought them up, and that period multiplied and bred in large numbers!!"

That Indian small cattle is Vechur cow

 

[Norton]

Well I know that they have a population of dwarf cows. Maybe the European ones didn't make it!

They have bees on the island as well.

On the highest parts they have evergreen forest with unexpected species like the orchid Epipactis, etc etc. .... an interesting place indeed.

 

[Norton]

Just found this:
http://www.socotra.info/socotra-beekiping.php

 

[Finman]

.
Big and small bees

Apis florea dwarf bee and Apis dorsata giant bee

 

[Finman]

.
It was in year 1992 when Mia Davidsson studied in Swedish university that cell size has no influence on mite reproduction

http://beeman.se/research/cell-nf.htm

.

 

[Norton]

Thanks for that - had we known about it sooner it could have saved a whole lot of work, time and expense. The pot smoking hippies have a lot to answer for.