Why talk about bee-space?

by B Svensson, Bikonsult HB, Sala, Sweden.

When Langstroth discovered the natural bee-space for Apis mellifera, he opened great potentials for managing bees in movable frame hives.

When travelling in many countries I have found that beekeepers and extension workers often talk about bee-space without knowing the meaning of the word. They often discuss a bee-space between frames such as 6, 8 or 10 mm. Their understanding is based on reading foreign books or having secondary information through their teachers. In reality the bee-space varies a lot, for instance:

• different bee species have different body sizes and therefore also different bee-spaces.

• within one species such as Apis cerana the bee-space may be different from one area to another.

• the bee-space may be different between two combs (perhaps 4 mm between honey cells and even 10 mm between freshly built wax at the bottom of combs).

In both A. mellifera adansonii in Africa, and A. cerana I have observed that the bees will leave a good bee-space between the comb and the frame and the bee-space arranged by the beekeeper around the frame will be of very little importance. The discussion is also difficult when different beekeepers are using different widths of frame-bars.

Instead I suggest we use the term comb-space. By comb-space | mean the space occupied by one comb and one space between two combs. The comb-space is very distinct for each subspecies of honeybees. This space can easily be measured in wild colonies. This can be done using a ruler placed across the colony at right angles to the combs to measure the distance between combs at each end of the nest. Count the number of combs across which you have measured and calculate the comb space by dividing the width of the colony by the number of combs less one.

Many colonies should be studied in order to secure a good average. The following figures are only examples of what kind of results will be expected:

Apis mellifera - 35mm

A. m. adansonii - 32mm

Apis cerana - north Bangladesh 28mm - south Bangladesh - 24mm

It is very important to find out the comb-space before local and appropriate hives are designed. If hive design follows the natural comb-space in the local area bees will thrive in the hive and production of honey will be simplified. It is essential to design the bars in top-bar hives after the natural comb-space otherwise movability of combs may be lost.

A hive with incorrect comb-space may cause the following disadvantages:

1. The bees will not centre combs correctly in frames or under top-bars.

2. The bees may build two combs in one frame or extra comb between frames.

3. The balance between drones and workers may be disrupted. Maybe too many drones will be born in wide combs and this in turn can cause trouble with Varroa mites.

4. It will be difficult to detect queen cells in unequal combs.

5. Division between honey and brood may be incorrect which can cause problems during harvesting and difficulties for the yearly exchange of wax.

6. When the comb-space is too wide, the bees will cluster on a lower number of combs and productivity in the hive will decrease.

7. The bees may have trouble in covering all the combs which may encourage wax moth.

8. Other pests such as lizards, beetles, mice, frogs and spiders will find it easy to hide in the hive when hive design is not correct.

9. The natural air-conditioning of the hive may get out of order if comb-space is incorrect causing bees to cluster on just a few combs or if extra comb- space allows moisture to condense inside the hive.

10. Beekeepers will find it harder to understand the biology of honeybees when they are forced into unnatural conditions.

11. Bees that do not thrive in the hive may be very aggressive or abscond.

Let's go ahead and study the comb-space in more wild colonies and continue this discussion on bee-space and comb-space and the effects of hive design!