Subject: Re: Grooming behavior

From: [email-masked] (Adam Finkelstein)
Date: 22 Jul 1996 18:32:08 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, Paul Petty <[email-masked]> wrote:

>While inspecting one of my hives yesterday, I saw something I've never noticed 
>before.  On the landing board were a couple of bees.  One seemed to be 
>grooming the other.  

Hi. I have observed this too. In observation hives as well--inside. Keep an
eye out on this hive--maybe the grooming behavior is a *positive* sign,
that these bees are grooming each other for varroa mites? 
Who knows. I don't think there is anything wrong with a hive showing this,
no cause for alarm.

Adam
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Adam Finkelstein                    
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Paul Petty)
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 10:12:59

While inspecting one of my hives yesterday, I saw something I've never noticed 
before.  On the landing board were a couple of bees.  One seemed to be 
grooming the other.  She was using her mouth parts to do something to the 
little patch of fuzz underneath the wing attachment.  She would work on one 
side for a while and then go to the other side.  The one being groomed was 
wandering around a little bit but didn't seem to be trying to go anywhere.  
Other bees coming and going ignored these two.  After a couple of minutes they 
went back inside the hive.  I didn't notice anything else unusual at this 
hive.  This was a swarm I hived a few weeks ago and this was the first time 
I've checked them since then.  Is this a sign of some problem in the hive?

Thanks,
Paul