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.