Dave in New Zealand is correct.  Dr. Bruce Lighthart produced  several 
papers on electrostatic charges on bees, uptake of spores, bacteria,  etc.
 
Earlier, E. Erickson of the Madison, later moved to Tucson, bee lab  worked 
on this topic.
 
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!
 
In Israel, work was done on pollen exchange btw bees and flowers,  without 
the bee landing - and again, it looked like bees could switch  polarity.
 
Jerry
 
 


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