Free Access
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)* |