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I was watching the hives and saw this repeated. A bee would haul out a dead bee and then take off flying with the carcas and fly away out of sight. Thought that was odd. Why fly so far? As I watched one fly away with a corpse she hit a twig then smack into a tree. This knocked her to the ground so I went to investigate. She was on the ground trying to get a good hold on the dead one presumably to fly off again. I nudged her so she took off and left the dead one which was a clearly a dead and smaller bee.
I assume this is just good house keeping but why carry the dead off so far? Seems like a lot of work. By the way, this is a hive that is recovering. It was a very small cluster coming out of the winter and it seems a miracle that it made it. So I am thrilled to see it cleaning house.
I assume this is just good house keeping but why carry the dead off so far? Seems like a lot of work. By the way, this is a hive that is recovering. It was a very small cluster coming out of the winter and it seems a miracle that it made it. So I am thrilled to see it cleaning house.