> reference to a new bee dance reported in
> Indonesia and Malaysia that involves the
> removal of varroa mites.  Is anyone aware
> of such observations?

Actually, unless there is something new and recent that I have missed, this
is not "new".  There are some honeybees (I hesitate to use "species" or
"races" because I am vague on the recollection and cannot provide
references) that exhibit the behavior of shaking (actually it is more like a
tremble) to alert their sisters to the fact that they have a varroa mite
attached to them.  The trembling bee is assisted by her sisters, who sieze
upon the mite and dismember it.  I have seen films, I recall it was bees
sharing the same indiginous area as Varroa j. and I seem to recall hope of
selectively breeding for this behavior.  It was back in the days when all
Varroa were Varroa j. (pre Varroa d.); back in the days when we knew very
little about Varroa.  Perhaps I saw the film at Apimondia in Vancouver,
although that seems late in the time line.  I really don't remember where it
was, but it was one of the explanations given for why honeybees could
coexist with Varroa.  That would be a clue that the "species" was Apis
cerena.

I realize how vague is this post and apologize for that, but perhaps it will
give clues to the students who posed the question.

Aaron Morris - wondering if senior moments start before 50?