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Author Topic: Dadant & Small Cell  (Read 14846 times)

Offline Jerrymac

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #20 on: March 07, 2008, 11:21:00 pm »
It is about over all hive health.
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Offline Angi_H

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #21 on: March 08, 2008, 02:39:27 am »
Bees were small cell before man messed it all up. And made fake foundatioin with larger and larger cells to get more and more production out of them. You did not see all of these problems way back then but now you do. Mites and afb and all sorts of nastys. Moving to small cell should help with some of that mess. And get them healthier. Well that is the hope any way. I am going to be starting out with Perma Comb and then move them slowly down to to the smaller. I am installing packages on these. On swarms that look small cell they will get there comb what ever I can get and then starter strips with small cell.


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Offline Cindi

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #22 on: March 08, 2008, 09:51:34 am »
MarkF, welcome to our forum, you are already asking questions and getting good answers.  Spend time here, learn and learn some more.  This will be a great learning tool for you, tell us a little bit about yourself when you have some time.  Great to have you here, have an awesome and wonderful day, Cindi
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Offline reinbeau

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #23 on: March 08, 2008, 11:07:22 am »
Actually it's not 'small cell' we should aim for, but natural cell.  Bees build all different sizes of cells for brood, honey, pollen stores, etc.  We should let them build their own houses, nevermind trying to give them fully furnished condos - who's to say they like the decor?  :-P

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #24 on: March 09, 2008, 04:53:13 am »
Actually it's not 'small cell' we should aim for, but natural cell.  Bees build all different sizes of cells for brood, honey, pollen stores, etc.  We should let them build their own houses, nevermind trying to give them fully furnished condos - who's to say they like the decor?  :-P

Percisely.  We need the size of combs the bees draw in nature free of human intervention.  I figure it will take me 5 yrs to get there.
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Offline Understudy

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #25 on: March 12, 2008, 06:05:52 pm »
Actually it's not 'small cell' we should aim for, but natural cell.  Bees build all different sizes of cells for brood, honey, pollen stores, etc.  We should let them build their own houses, nevermind trying to give them fully furnished condos - who's to say they like the decor?  :-P
Absolutely correct.

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Offline MarkF

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #26 on: March 12, 2008, 08:55:46 pm »
I was wondering if you put a blank foundation (one with out the cell imprint) in would the Bees use it or be confused by it?  :?
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Offline buzzbee

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #27 on: March 12, 2008, 09:07:28 pm »
Bees will probably use it. If you put an empty frame in they will draw it.
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Offline Michael Bush

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #28 on: March 12, 2008, 09:42:02 pm »
>I was wondering if you put a blank foundation (one with out the cell imprint) in would the Bees use it or be confused by it?

They will draw it, but they will draw from just a starter strip more quickly.
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Offline MarkF

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #29 on: March 12, 2008, 10:31:26 pm »
Ok thank you Michael
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Offline beesbeesbees

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #30 on: April 16, 2008, 05:01:08 pm »
I find that I don't know anything about those little flying monsters that I keep in boxes.  But I do know that I put starter strips in every box and there were HUGE cells full of honey at the top of the hive and smaller toward the bottom.  Seems like they can manage on their own pretty well.  I'm guess not really sure what regression means.  If using natural cell won't the queen be laying in larger, honey cells early in spring (like mine is)?  Wouldn't that make it impossible to standardize bee size? 

I'm a second season beekeeper so there's a lot I don't know.  But I have to assume that worker bees of the same hive come in different sizes under normal circumstances.  Maybe even tending toward smaller workers in the fall as honey cells are filled at the top.

Offline Understudy

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Re: Dadant & Small Cell
« Reply #31 on: April 16, 2008, 06:20:31 pm »
I find that I don't know anything about those little flying monsters that I keep in boxes.  But I do know that I put starter strips in every box and there were HUGE cells full of honey at the top of the hive and smaller toward the bottom.
That is correct. When talking small cell and natural cell it refers to worker brood cells.

Quote
Seems like they can manage on their own pretty well.  I'm guess not really sure what regression means.  If using natural cell won't the queen be laying in larger, honey cells early in spring (like mine is)? 
Feral queens prefer to lay in small cell. Very often domestic package bees have been laying in large cell because that is what they have been forced to do or raised to do. Getting them to lay in small cell is referred to as regression.
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Wouldn't that make it impossible to standardize bee size? 
The queen prefers to lay in the center frames so the brood is insulated and the temperature is easier to control. People who do small cell are trying to mimic the standard that exists for bees in nature. 

Quote
I'm a second season beekeeper so there's a lot I don't know.  But I have to assume that worker bees of the same hive come in different sizes under normal circumstances.  Maybe even tending toward smaller workers in the fall as honey cells are filled at the top.

The cell size for workers is pretty uniform in a feral hive. A small cell hive tries to recreate that situation.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

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