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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Richard Goetze <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 22 May 2003 21:57:20 -0400
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Peter Detchon has a point. Maybe the mess we see is nothing more than a bee
hater's eggs of mass destruction. Egg splatter is a valid hypothesis.
(That's why the bees need to be examined.)

However, the mess also looks a lot like the NORMAL poop I experience with
"my" large carpenter bee (Xylocopa) commune. These chubby buzzers void just
near their gallery entrances or on the neighbour's Jetta. They can make a
big mess.

"My" Bumbles have yet to make such a mess but I don't house them in bird-
house structures. "Mine" are all using abandoned chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
dens. When I have observed voiding, it's away from the nest entrance.
(Although, I have found feces in abandoned nesting material.) There is a
rumor that Bumbles will use their feces as a chemical weapon against bee
haters. "My" Bumbles are Canadian, thus too polite to fling poop.

Cheers. RG

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