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Table I

Mean values (± se) for bee and Varroa population metrics in bee colonies housed on conventional-sized brood cells or small cells. Colonies of both cell types were set up in August 2006 (15966 bees), March 2007 (11612 bees), or April 2008 (10886 bees). Ending data were collected in June 2007 (August 2006 and March 2007 colonies) and August 2008 (April 2008 colonies). A one-time measure of adult bee live weight was made October 2006 for August 2006 colonies. Numbers in parentheses = n. The occurrence of significant treatment effects (α ≤ 0.05) is indicated by *.

Variable Conventional-cell Small-cell
Beginning colony mite popn. 303.1 ± 61.4 (19) 308.6.2 ± 54.1 (21)
Adult bee weight (mg) in October 2006 141.3 ± 6.7 (4) 129.3 ± 5.7 (3)
(Aug. 2006 colonies only)
Ending cm2 brood 6320 ± 681 (19) 5627 ± 490 (21)
Ending cells of brood 24838 ± 2675 (19) 26053 ± 2271 (21)
Ending mites per 24 h sticky sheet 17.4 ± 5.0 (19) 28.3 ± 6.0 (21)
Ending mites per 100 brood cells 0.9 ± 0.2 (19) 2.8 ± 0.6 (21)
Ending colony mite popn. 409.7 ± 93.4 (18) 670.5 ± 112.5 (21)
Ending mites in brood 134.5 ± 38.7 (19) 359.7 ± 87.4 (21)*
Ending % mite popn. in brood 26.8 ± 6.7 (16) 49.4 ± 7.1 (20)*
Ending mites per 100 adult bees 3.3 ± 0.5 (18) 5.1 ± 0.9 (21)*