Un-regressed Bees

Bees undergoing un-regression.

Much has been written about regression. That's the process of getting bees, which are living on large cell size comb, established on small cell size comb. My small cell bees were healthier, over wintered better, built up faster in the spring, and could tolerate mites. But regressing bees is an onerous process. When following the Lusby method, most hives succumb to varroa mites before becoming established on small cell. I lost over 90% of my hives this way. The few survivors were very weak.

After regressing, I thought another approach might be more efficient. But by then, all my hives were fully established on small cell. To test the approach, I needed to un-regress a few hives. So, in 2002, I made the switch. Several of my small cell hives had a box of clean, large cell size comb put between the two deep brood boxes.

Halfway through the season, I split these hives and removed any remaining small cell comb. The resulting hives consisted of three deep boxes of clean, large cell comb. These hives formed the basis for some interesting observations. I placed one large cell hive in my backyard. All the rest were kept in the same bee yard a dozen miles away.

Small Versus Large Cell Bees Size

It became obvious that bee size wasn't directly dependant on the cell size. Bee sizes in both large and small cell hives changed with the seasons. And it was impossible to determine which hives contained large or small cell comb by looking at the bee size alone. So, I took a few photos and did a little measuring. The results of this experiment don't exactly follow what is written about bee size versus cell size in the regression literature.

Over Wintering

All hives were in great condition for over wintering. I couldn't discern a visible difference between the two groups. They had large clusters, centered in the middle box. They occupied about eight frames with the cluster in the lower box as well. All survived in great shape with no discernible differences between the two groups.

Since getting my bees on clean wax, I haven't suffered a single over wintering loss. They have come through the winter strong and healthy. No dinks. No deadouts.

Spring Buildup

Small cell bees build up very fast in the spring. This difference was amazing when compared to my treated, large cell hives. But my newly un-regressed large cell hives built up as fast as the small cell hives. I suspect that pesticides, from years of mite treatments, contaminated the wax in those other large cell hives.

The bees were so strong they required splitting to control swarming. I had a bee surplus. Rather than a surplus of empty equipment.

Disease

Since getting a variety of bees on clean wax, I haven't disease problems since that first regression season. No foulbrood, chalkbrood, etc., has appeared in either group.

Honey Production

Although honey production varied between hives, no noticeable difference was seen between the different cell size groups. Extreme drought has plagued my locale for a decade. Surviving vegetation is under great stress and will probably perish without some climate change.

Yet, my hives produced more than twice the average amount recorded for this area. The excellent health, over wintering, and fast spring buildup probably offsets the drought's effects. Before the bees were on clean wax, my production was slightly better than average.

Comb Orientation

The frames in my small cell hives were marked and oriented by Housel positioning. Housel positioning faces a comb side toward the hive's center based upon the pattern in the cell's bottom. The comb side with the apparent "Y" seen upright in the cell bottom, is faced away from the hive's center. The other comb side, with the apparent "Y" seen inverted, is faced toward the hive's center.

After regressing, when my few surviving small cell hives were very weak, I thought Housel positioning kept the small clusters centered. Re-centering smaller clusters was a common spring procedure with treated bees.

No attempts were made to orient the comb in my un-regressed large cell hives, as the natural comb in my top bar hives didn't show such orientation.

The clusters were large and healthy in these test hives. I couldn't discern a difference in centering, swarming, temperament, or anything else based upon comb orientation.

Mite Tolerance

Bees showing typical deformed/milky wings associated with
PMS.

While regressing my small cell bees, they behaved remarkably. They could detect and remove mite infested pupa. And damage varroa mites by biting them. Whole patches of brood were cleansed this way, primarily during the spring and fall. After regressing that first season, all small cell colonies tolerated varroa mites without treatments. When the broodnest consists of small cell comb, different bee races maintained an average natural mite fall of 1 to 3 mites/week. I haven't detected any significant seasonal mite buildup in my small cell hives.

But the varroa mite situation, in my un-regressed hives, was a different story. No mite cleansing or mite biting was visible in the mite tray debris. Mite damage to the bees was visible by mid-summer. One hive showed PMS symptoms at the first season's end. It required mite treatment to survive. By the middle of the second season, all large cell hives, including the one in my backyard, required mite treatments. Oxalic acid was used.

Cell size is everything for varroa mite tolerance. The same bees which were mite tolerant when on small cell comb, had no mite tolerance when they were un-regressed on large cell comb.

I haven't had problems with tracheal mites since 1999. So, I don't have any observations concerning them.

Conclusion

After three seasons, most test hives developed queen problems. In my climate, three years is about the maximum time a queen lasts. So, this situation didn't come as a surprise. I requeened and shutdown this test.

Except for mite tolerance, no difference existed in behavior, health or production between my large or small cell bees when both were on clean wax. But there was a significant difference between bees on clean wax and my treated, large cell bees. Many positive aspects attributed to small cell can actually be attributed to a lack of pesticide contamination.

Clean wax is almost everything. I wouldn't risk contaminating a hive with a pesticide. There are other non-contaminating mite treatments available for those running large cell hives. Small cell size hives shouldn't need any mite treatments.

Un-regressed Bees In A Top Bar Hive

After this test, some ofthe un-regressed bees were put in a top bar hive, much like I had done with my small cell bees. These New World Carniolans built a broodnest structure that had the same orientation and cell size distribution as all the other natural comb I've measured.

The remaining un-regressed bees were re-un-regressed :>))) and put in all small cell comb hives. The typical mite overload didn't occur as non-contaminating treatments were used. And small cell combs were already available. So the mites didn't have much time to overwhelm the colonies. They have prospered without treatments since then.