REGARDING           RE>Bees crawling on ground                                
                                                                                
JWG writes:                                                                     
"Lately in my home yard I'm noticing quite a few bees crawling on the ground    
through the grass.  They are sometimes drones.  The behavior is hurried and     
they appear disoriented, sometimes running in crazed circles if they make       
it onto a smooth surface. At night you can hear them giving short little        
buzzes as they try to make it through the ground cover.  Otherwise the          
colonies seem fine and are very active.                                         
                                                                                
 There were lots of ground-crawling groggy bees a few years ago when the        
tracheal mites first appeared, and the "K-wing" symptom was obvious.  Now I'm   
not noticing any odd wing positioning with these bees.  This is the             
only yard where I had 100% winter survival.  (I have patties in all the         
hives, but have never used menthol.)  Does this CRAWLING-about behavior         
sound familiar to anyone?  We've discovered that we must watch where we         
step if not wearing shoes! "                                                    
                                                                                
This sounds like varroa to me.  I had a lot of that kind of behavior late       
last summer,  followed by a dramatic population crash and loss of many hives.   
 I hope I'm wrong, and that there will be a more positive explanation for       
such behavior.  You mention having put in patties, which should have taken      
care of tracheal mites, but as far as I know, they don't work for varroa.       
Have you put in Apistan strips?  If not, it might already be too late, if my    
experience of last summer is a guide.  If you have, then I think there must     
be another explanation for what you're seeing.  Maybe you could catch some of   
the bees on the ground and examine them for the presence of adult varroa        
mites around the bases of their wings and legs.  These mites are very           
annoying to the bees, who will try anything to dislodge them and get some       
relief.                                                                         
                                                                                
Ted Fischer