Newsgroups: sci.agriculture.beekeeping Subject: Question on BEE Behavior Date: 24 Jun 1994 15:34:41 GMT Organization: University of Washington, Seattle I have a question on bee behavior: the other day I was out sitting on the lawn & a very large black bumble bee was bumbling around in the grass. He (she?) would flop over on his back & sqwiggle around, like he was scratching his back; then he'd burrow down into the grass, completely disappearing in the roots. After several minutes he'd re-emerge & do it all over again. I picked him up to see if he was having difficulty flying, & his wings did look pretty short compared to his body size, but he seemed to prefer to be on the ground. I sat there for quite awhile watching him & he did the same behavior over & over. Any ideas as to what he was up to? Please reply to [log in to unmask] as I do not subscribe to this group. Thanks in advance.