bee chaining?

[slacker361]

when i pull the frames apart in the hive, I notice bees connected to one another  and being about 5 or 6 bees in a chain from one frame to another.  any idea why they are doing this?

[hardwood]

That's normal and is referred to as "festooning". They will festoon while drawing comb. If you're seeing a lot of it between drawn frames you need to watch closely...they may be cramped and wanting to build burr between frames.

Scott

[FRAMEshift]

Yes, the bees work more efficiently by festooning.  It's like a bucket brigade where the bees pass materials up the chain rather than each bee having to crawl to find what she needs.  I bet it also has something to do with spacing out the cells properly although I have no evidence for that.

[L Daxon]

What about when you see them in a "chain" on the outside of the hive.  I noticed that yesterday, 5 or so bees end-to-end linked to one another hanging down from the handle indention on the bottom hive body.  Most of the time when they are "bearding" they are just massed together in kind of a pile on top of one another rather than in a single file chain.

[hardwood]

During times of dearth that is common...it's called the "unemployment line" :-D

Scott

[L Daxon]

Scott. Ha. Ha. Ha.  Good one.  :lau:

[AllenF]

They normally are saying, "no, he is taking another frame away from us", and "hold on tight, he will not get this one from us without a fight", as they hang on to their hard earned honey supply. 

[Bee Happy]

I can't say I've seen research on this, but in wild hives and foundationless they festoon in a 'U' shape. I think it does 2 things. 1. serve as a plumb line so they build the comb in a direct line with gravity. 2. As a gauge because the U shape is easier to support as they expand it.

[Michael Bush]

http://bushfarms.com/beesterms.htm#f

see festooning...