Hello All, Today (August 14th, high temperature of about 76 deg F, foggy in the morning brilliantly sunny by mid-day) I have been observing some rather strange behaviour on the front porches of a couple of our hives and was wondering if anyone had any insight on what it might mean. A small group of bees, about 10 or 12 in each group, are engaging in what appears to be the motions that a mining bee or other animal would use in digging a tunnel/burrow. They scrabble with their forelegs on the painted surface, antennae down, mandibles to the surface - back and forth, back and forth. The surface is clean of anything that I could see (no propolis, or wax, or dirt). They have been doing this since early afternoon and are still at it right now (7:15p.m.). The bees are the offspring of 2nd generation Carniolan queens. Just curious is all. Perhaps they're just doing it to confuse the observer :) Stephen Augustine Bees By The Bay