On 12 Apr 99, at 10:10, Musashi wrote:


> several hives for the past several days, and I noticed that there is a
> behavior that all the bees were doing, including the drones, and every
> single bee did it.  When they came to the entrance of the hive, just
> before taking wing, each bee rubbed its front legs over its antennae and
> eyes, almost as if washing its face or rubbing the sleep out of its eyes
> before taking off. After I recognized what I was seeing, then I watched
> closely, and every single bee that left every hive I looked at did it
> without fail before flying.
>snip<
> I then was left to wonder what the purpose of this action was.  Was it
> just to clean their eyes off before flying?  What if their eyes were
> already clean? Why would they have to do it again?

It's very simple really. It's bright out there, so they put on their sunglasses!
A better explaination. Their antenaes are the main sensory organs, their
very life depends on them, makes sense to keep them clean and in good
working order.




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