In the hot summer in a hive box, the bees gather outside on the landing and do the washboard dance.
AI Root in the ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture says that while the dance looks like the bees are scrubbing and scraping the landing of the hive, there's no evidence that they are doing anything other than exercising.
The bees at the bee tree are washboarding all around the knothole opening. Inside the opening as you can see in the picture above and below, they also appear to be hanging onto each other in a sort of acrobatic festooning in the center of the hole.
In an August day in Atlanta (this was 8 AM) it must be awfully hot inside the tree cavity.
When I climbed the ladder and opened the hive box, there were more bees than usual in the box and on top of the frames. I think they are getting invested in hive box ownership! Or at least I am hoping that they are.
Hey Linda! Looks like the bee tree is doing well. I read about the stings. OUCH! I'm a firm believer that bees get used to the keeper as time goes by, and these girls have been on their own for so long, in the tree, they're a little defensive, but I bet they'll tone down some pretty soon. About the washboarding, I've never seen it, but read about it before, and like a lot of other curiosities in bee behavior, its just one of those things they understand...but we don't. Maybe it is a form of bee aerobics? Maybe the colony was doing their Denise Austin workout? :)
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