Bee Natural

What’s all the small cell ruckus? Natural is better.

Small Cell Woes

Mite tray debris seen when bees cleanse the broodnest core. Note the immature male and female mites, and bee pupa parts. Can you find a mite without bite damage?

Large or Small Comb?

Natural comb isn’t composed of a single cell size. Bees construct and use a range of cell sizes for rearing workers, drones, queens and for food storage. Bees raised on a single cell size, whether large or small, draw out a variety of cell sizes with the same cell size distribution. No cell size memory there.

Historical Cell Measurements

A.I. Root wrote about cell size. He details cell size before foundation was made. He also describes efforts to arrive at a workable foundation size and European efforts at bee enlargement. His son continued writing about these issues.

This bald headed brood is seen when bees are cleansing the broodnest core of pests.

The range of worker cell sizes described by A.I. Root and used by foundation manufactures fall well within the natural range of worker cell size found in natural comb. Bees draw out the same range of cell sizes regardless whether they’ve been on natural comb, regressed, or raised on small or large cell comb. There’s no artificially large foundation commercially available in the US.

Large or Small Bees?

A colony will raise different size worker bees at different seasons, even when they are restricted to a single cell sized comb. A natural hive isn’t composed of one size bee or a single sub caste of workers. Virgin queens travel far from their hives. They mate in drone congregation areas with at least a dozen different drones. This insures genetic variability and sub caste diversity. Mongrel bees, on a natural comb, yield a worker population that is diverse in size and genetics.

That’s the ultimate combination for survival. A hive needs small cell sized bees and comb to thrive, it also needs large cell sized bees and comb or there wouldn’t be so much large cell sized worker comb built. And the queen wouldn’t prefer to lay in it during the summer.

Regression Anyone?

No cell size memory. No artificially enlarged foundation in common use. No large or small cell bees. So, there’s no need for regression.

Drone, large cell and small cell size foundation.

Without regression, there’s no need, or reason to kill one’s bees to save them. Regression commonly kills at least 75% of the hives. This loss was seen as a necessary step in selecting small cell bees. It was thought that a better adapted ’small cell survivor’ was obtained to replace the defective large cell bees. Yikes!

Without regression, there’s no need for isolated mating zones or out of season mating.

And there’s no need to search out a feral source for remanent small cell survivors.

What other small cell practices could be changed or dropped if bees don’t need to be regressed? How would dropping or changing these practices make running small cell hives easier?

Small Cell Thoughts

Small cell beekeepers make a crucial mistake when the concept of a single, small cell size collides with the reality of drawing out enough small cell comb. They can’t adjust the foundation size upward, to get good foundation acceptance, without losing the health benefits. So, bee genetics get blamed for the comb drawing failure. Hence the whole concept of artificially enlarged bees has emerged. Connected with this concept is just about every conceivable explanation for all beekeeping woes.

When the broodnest structure and seasonal broodnest dynamics are understood, most small cell beekeeping problems are easily explained. And a century of bee observations and research don’t need to be thrown out. Appropriate management practices can be formulated that work with the bees, rather than against them.

Small cell comb is a good approximation to the core area of a natural broodnest. That’s why it works so well concerning pest and disease control. But it’s a poor approximation for the rest of the broodnest. And that’s where all the comb drawing problems, poor mid-season queen performance, and regression problems come from. It’s not easy working against the bees.

From Small Cell to Natural Comb

It’s much easier to work with the bees than against them. A beekeeper,understanding the broodnest structure, and seasonal broodnest dynamics, can modify his equipment and management to get all the benefits of small cell without the small cell hassles. That’s a natural comb approach.

Using top bar hives, with an undisturbed broodnest, is the easiest way to implement natural comb.

• As the equipment must be built, it’s new and clean.
• The bees construct the broodnest their way.
• A top bar hive is self contained. So, there’s no need to shuffle equipment.
• Comb rotation is fast and easy. It’s an integral part of thb management.

Standard Equipment Transition to Natural Comb

Not everyone can afford the luxury of running new top bar hives. Many beekeepers are stuck with standard equipment. Not all is lost. Natural cell concepts can be used with standard equipment.

First, the bees need a clean broodnest. Combs that were treated with miticides must be replaced. And if hives have been sprayed, dipped, fumed or poured with pesticides, the wood frame is probably contaminated and should be replaced.

Second, repeat after me: “One cell size can’t do it all.” The bees need a smaller cell size in the broodnest core. And that means differentiating natural comb frames from other frames. And segregating broodnest boxes from honey supers. It isn’t a big stretch. Most prudent beekeepers already segregate treated and untreated equipment. And they rotate and replace combs by age. If you don’t, now’s the time to start. But, instead of using larger cell size foundation, use the smaller cell size instead.

With clean equipment, foundationless frames in an undisturbed broodnest is one approach. The comb will be stronger than the natural comb in a top bar hive making it easier to handle. And it is just as easy to rotate comb.

Still want to use foundation? A natural broodnest core is comprised of 40% small cell size comb. In theory, this could be approximated by running four small cell frames in the center of each brood box. I’ve run six frames that way, without any problems.

Third, simply get your bees on a small cell core. They would build one themselves if permitted. Don’t get all hung up on regression techniques or terminology. It simply isn’t necessary.

This is my bee yard after regressing 16 colonies and 6 nucs.

Fourth, don’t loose your bees while doing it. No enterprise could loose more that 75% of its assets and survive. Treat those bees with a non-contaminating method. It will save the bees. Kill the mites. And keep the comb clean. I’ve found out that dead bees don’t draw out small cell comb. They don’t produce a bit of honey. And they certainly aren’t much fun.

Fifth, don’t sweat the small cell stuff. Think natural comb, with its natural size variation. Smaller cells are necessary in the core broodnest area. But they don’t have to be perfectly drawn or of a single size to be effective.

Conclusion

My natural comb experience indicates that using foundation isn’t as benign as once thought. Bees draw out natural comb 10:1 compared with a similar hive on foundation. A natural comb approach is a better approach, where the bees build the comb they want, where they want it. How could natural comb be incorporated into modern beekeeping methods? I can think of several approaches, but will leave that experiment to you.

Detection and removal of mite infected pupa has recently been “discovered” as a factor for mite tolerance. Researchers have called it Varroa Sensitive Hygiene or VHS. They are selecting for it. If they had read these or other biological beekeeping pages, they could have discovered it six years ago.

Every bee race I’ve put on small cell comb, has demonstrated VHS. I’ve tried queens from every major US commercial queen producer. These same bees when on put on large cell comb didn’t show that behavior.

When on small cell comb, the bees did more than remove the mites. They destroyed them. Over 90% of the mite fall had visible damage. A quick search of Bee-L, for bald headed brood, will display my thoughts at that time.

Breeding VHS

Can bee breeders select mite tolerant, large cell VHS bees? It’s possible. But it will take much work to develop and maintain such stock. Many favorable attributes, selected for in the past, could be lost along the way. It might be easier to work with the best all around bee available now. Incorporate a natural broodnest structure/cell size. And then select the best bee with VHS as one of many other important criteria.

James Kilty, an English beekeeper is also selecting for VHS in Cornwall, England. Check out his Bee Improvement Website.

The Offer

Years ago, I offered to take any breeder queen and in three months return a mite tolerate hive with the same queen and genetics. These bees would detect and remove mite infected pupa. And they would actively kill and damage varroa mites. I would do if for $10000 or your money back. That’s a small pittance and an insignificant amount of time when compared to a full blown bee breeding program. No one took me up on my offer. But now, no one has to, as everyone should know how to do it for themselves