Table 1. Comparison of model results with observations.

Initial adult bee number		Final brood cell numbers		Brood cells per adult bee		Honey gain per bee per day (mg)		Percentage survival at 22 days
observed	model	observed	model	observed	model	observed	model	observed	model
2316	2400	4325	4005	2.41	2.13	2.6	23.9	56	56
4515	4500	11162	9154	3.04	2.55	1.6	17.7	64	60
9352	9000	16275	17542	2.21	2.40	10.1	14.7	58	62
17099	18000	22875	26493	1.67	1.79	11.9	15.4	63	64
37061	36000	27875	33599	0.97	1.13	17.7	17.4	55	65

Experimental data is from Harbo, (1986) for hives set up in April. The model results were obtained by running the model for 21 days. The experimental hive was set up for 22 days but the queen was only free to lay after day 2. At the start of each model run, there was no brood or food in the hive and one third of the adult bees were foragers. The parameters used were L = 2000,  = 1/9, v = 5000,  = 1.3,  = 0.25,  = 0.25, b = 500, c = 0.09,  = 0.007,  = 0.018, m = 0.06 and  = 21 (which prevented any adult bees emerging during the simulations to match the experimental set-up).