>Bees have charged bodies, but the amount can vary depending on
environmental conditions.  Some interesting work out of Germany found
different charges (+ -) on the antennae, and bees apparently can switch the
charge on the antenna!
 
................
 
Vertical wind shear and concentration gradients of viable, airborne bacteria
were used to calculate the upward flux of viable cells above bare soil and
canopies of several crops. Concentrations at soil or canopy height varied
from 46 colony forming units per m3 over young corn and wet soil to 663
colony-forming units per m3 over dry soil and 6,500 colony-forming units per
m3 over a closed wheat canopy...Our findings indicate that plants constitute
a major source of airborne bacteria, including those that are INA...Ice
Nucleation-Active bacteria are normal residents of living leaves of many
plant species.

JULIANNE LINDEMANN et al (1982). Plants as Sources of Airborne Bacteria,
Including Ice Nucleation-Active Bacteria. APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL
MICROBIOLOGY, Vol. 44, No. 5, p. 1059-1063
...............

So, a 'charged honey bee' may well pick up some of these 'INA', provided the
relative potentials are right, and I assume that they will be carried around
until the bee stops to groom. I can see that a buzzy bee might be charged,
but how would a bacterium become charged, and is it likely to be oppositely
charged?

And the bees can reverse the potential..? The mind boggles.

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