>If liquids are being lost in the feces which would be held back in a
healthy bee, does this imply dehydration could take place as it may with
dysentary in other animals?

I don't know either, Allen.  I've been looking into it, and dysentery in
bees is simply not well studied.

I'm not sure if dehydration is an issue.  In mammals, dysentery leads to
electrolyte imbalance, which can be quite serious.

However, I'm not sure if bee dysentery is anything like mammal dysentery.
Older bees eat little pollen, so it would appear that colored dysentery
would be mostly from nurse bees taking cleansing flights, or from foragers
newly transitioned from nurse or winter bees.

Not sure why such a volume of liquid, unless the function of the rectum is
impaired to the extent that it can't resorb water.  This sounds like a
likely cause--anyone know?

Randy Oliver

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