Today I witnessed a behavior in my honey bees which I had never seen before.
The weather at noon was sunny, approx 70 degrees.  The hive was in full sun.
The bees were coming back to the hive heavy with pollen.
 
The unusual behavior I observed involved bees departing to the field for
more nectar/pollen.  As I was watching the hive, a departing bee would
appear at the entrance, immediately flip over on her back, wiggle her legs
fiercely for about one second, then flip back over on to her feet and take
off for the field.  I estimate 10% of the departing bees performed this
"flip", and continued to behave in this way for at least the 20 minutes I
watched.
 
Could this behavior be a form of communication?
 
 
Ronald E Baker
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