wriggling abdomen

[staythecourse]

This is not a thread about Britney Spears.

I can usually see bees off by themselves contorting their abdomen in a circular motion. They OK? Any ideas about what they are doing. It looks bad and not good but that's a newbees guess.

[Dave W]

Are they "struggling" w/ V-mites somewhere on their bodies?

Look closely for a small reddish-brown "dot" hidden somewhere on the "wrigglers".

[staythecourse]

Thanks. I'll check.

[Putz]

Sounds similar to symptoms caused by varroa to me, migt possibley be trachael mite too I suppose, causing lack of oxygen.

[BjornBee]

I'll assume your not talking about a "waggle dance".

Bees will beg for grooming when something like v-mites are bothering them. If they wriggle, and you see a another bee come to it's aid indicated by some type of grooming, then I would go with a v-mite.

This situation has been noted in years past, and I think it was naturebee that had a specific term to define this type of grooming. I know this was discussed here on beesource a few times. And you can see this type behavior very clearly with an observation hive. (which every beekeeper should have!)

It is a highly valued trait.

[BenC]

If it's not the "get it off me!" move that happens with mites here's another possibility: I see it when I do bulk feeding and some bees get sticky. They'll be on the sides of the drum doing this, Part of the cleaning up. They swing the abdomen in a big circle while trying to clean with the back legs. Some of them take a while but eventually they fly off.