Small Cell Foundation

This is something I haven't tried personally (yet) and when I first heard people talking about it I was sceptical but after doing some more research the theory sounds interesting.

Natural Cell Sizes

From Skeps to Modern Hives: In the past, beekeepers used "skeps" – think of a straw basket like something Friar Tuck might use. These allowed bees to build their natural wax comb without any frames or foundations.

In these skeps, bees made cells of various sizes. The smallest cells were for worker brood (around 4.9mm), slightly larger ones for honey storage, and the largest for drone bees.

In the mid 1800's beekeepers on the United States started moving away from skeps into boxes like the Langstroth (1851) with frames. In the UK the national hive format was created between 1920 and 1930.

Cell Size Changes: Initially, commercially produced wax foundations had cell sizes of about 5mm. The idea was to limit the amount of drone comb, since drones don't help in honey production and consume a lot of it. This didn't really work as the bees just built larger cells on top to produce drone cells.

A key figure in increasing cell size was A.I. Root, who theorised that larger cells would lead to larger bees, which could gather more nectar and produce more honey. This experiment actually worked and led to the standardisation of 5.4mm cell sizes.

This brief history shows us how human interventions have influenced the size of honeybees, all in the pursuit of more efficient honey production.

Varroa issues: Everything changed with the arrival of the varroa mite in the 1980s, posing new challenges for beekeepers and bees alike. Some beekeepers have a theory that the larger cell size has contributed to colony collapse from varroa infestation. The theory is that larger cells mean there's more room for varroa mites to breed, lay eggs and feed. A second theory is that larger cell size increases the incubation time to 19.5 days from 18 days. This might seem like short period but it's an 8.3% increase.

Additionally, I've seen people comment that bees from small cell foundation show similar traits to those shown by VSH bees in that they uncap cells with varroa in. This maybe a coincidence but it would be interesting to see some further experiments around this.

Further Information

John White being interviewed by Laurence Edwards of Black Mountain Honey. John talks about his experience using small cell foundation - YouTube Link.