Respond to: [log in to unmask]
 
    One beekeeper has a most unusual occurrance with some of his bees, which
I have never seen before. He has several hives, in which a few of the bees
have the top of the thorax depressed like a dent in a fender. Each of these
is exactly on the top and makes a deep dent in a triangular shape. Perhaps
.5% of the workers exhibit this characteristic.  I have seen about six of his
hives that have these dented workers.
 
    We have knocked this about with several commercial beekeepers with a lot
of experience and none of us have ever seen this particular oddity before,
and, having seen it in one of his hives, are surprised to see it in several.
 
    Has anyone on the list ever seen this?  Does anyone have any ideas as to
its significance?  Might this be a genetic thing?  Or a syptom of some
pathology?  The hives seem normal in every other respect.
 
   The outfit, in general, seems to be in a bit poorer shape than last year,
although not enough to cause alarm. (This could be said about all the bees
I've seen this fall, including my own. Certainly there are variations from
year to year, and last year was exceptionally good.) These were observed to
have a high infestation of varroa, and were treated prior to migration from
New York to SC.
 
    Is this something new that has been seen by others, and may be
significant, or is it just a freak, that will probably never be seen again?
 
Dave Green, Eastern Pollinator Newsletter, PO Box 1215, Hemingway, SC 29554