Regarding the recent discussion of the "washboarding" behavior of
bees--

I know this is a whimsical idea, but to me the washboarding
movements resemble the motions carried out by the bees when they
are gathering pollen from a blossom. I wondered if, similar to
the short "training flights" of young bees next to the hive to
(presumably) exercise their wings and practice their visual
skills, the washboarding is an exercise or precursor of some
sort by young bees in response to their developing pollen
gathering instinct.

Steve D
Portales, New Mexico, US
Top Bar Hive:
http://www.xscd.com/tbh/