All the talk of robbing lately makes the bee world seem so hostile.  Let me try
a different tack.

I have been fascinated by watching bees at the bird baths I leave by my apiaries
as a water source.  Often when I pause to watch the activities there, I see one
bee busily grooming a second bee.  Even while the second bee seems to be
involved in onloading water for the hive, the first bee grooms her from head to
tail.  The groomer then moves on to other bees as they arrive.  Sometimes the
grooming is a team effort with two bees working very avidly on what appears to
be the water carrier.

I have often pondered if these bees are from the same hive or not.  I also find
it interesting that the grooming takes place a distance - in one case 50 yards -
from the hive.  I would expect - rightly or wrongly - that grooming would take
place in the hive.

It is easy to anthropomorphize this behavior.  The altruistic groomer.  The
water carrier who does not want to stop working even though the groomer is
intent on cleaning things up.  It seems an "odd couple" routine - Oscar and
Felix.

I wonder how much grooming occurs in the field.  This is likely a question
difficult to explore, but it would seem that from a mite stand point, grooming
outside the hive would be more useful.  The opportunity for a removed mite to
find another host would be lessened.

Larry Krengel