> I think every commercial beekeeper has witnessed bees leaving the hive to
> die. In Florida with an apiary of sand the phenomenon is easy to
> witness.(snip).
> In the 80's when tracheal mites hit most of us would observe crawling bees
> heading away from the hive to die. Some would crawl around fifty feet
> before
> dying. Some will fly and fall 10-20 feet from the hive and then die.


Same thing observed with Varroa. Most of the time you do not see the bees
because of grass, but when there is bare ground or hollows, since they seem
to go 'downhill", you will see them- if you are around. As far as Tracheal,
many have seen pictures of bees in the middle of winter outside the hive,
clustered on the hive body.

We have talked about this before, and we do not know the why. From a
"practical" point of view, it would seem that with a densely packed
population, a mechanism may have evolved that triggers diseased individuals
to leave so disease does not spread. Purely conjecture. Wonder if it happens
with other social insects?

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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