# Bees are forming a daisy chain



## Montana Bee (Feb 1, 2011)

When I did my inspection I noticed when I separated the frames the bees were all hanging on to one another like a chain. There were large clumps of bees hanging on to each other by their their feet! Whats that all about?

Thanks much


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## vegasvalet (Jan 10, 2011)

They are doing the wave..... :lpf:


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

It is called "festooning" and it means they are making comb.


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## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

NasalSponge has it right. And it is a wonderful thing to see!


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

* "festooning"*
I just like the word LOL



and yes thats what they are doing 
Tommyt


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## kevink (Sep 30, 2010)

the bees are not so much making comb, but rather taking measurements so they know how much comb to build

got this from a documentary im watching at the moment..



> Inside the tree, the bees form living chains. Not having a ruler handy, it's their way of taking measurements, in preparation for the construction work, which has to begin as soon as possible.


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## WillH (Jun 25, 2010)

Is there a way to watch the movie online?


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## kevink (Sep 30, 2010)

ya sure WillH


the piece about the bees forming a daisy chain is at the beginning of part 2

enjoy!


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## Hokie Bee Daddy (Apr 1, 2011)

Great videos. Thanks for passing the links along kevink.


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## WillH (Jun 25, 2010)

Watched all 3 parts. Very nice filming. Thanks for posting the link.


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## HONEYDEW (Mar 9, 2007)

Just watched all 3 don't know how I missed them before ....Thank you for the link


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## kevink (Sep 30, 2010)

no problem!

i have 2 more excellent documentaries, but i must find the links

one is about the CCD and the other is about varroa.

when i find them, ill post the links for ye!


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## Benthic (May 1, 2011)

kevink said:


> ya sure WillH
> 
> 
> the piece about the bees forming a daisy chain is at the beginning of part 2
> ...


Great documentary! The "in flight" shots are great!

Thanks very much for posting these links.

Edit: For those that might be interested, there are some pages on NOVA's web site about how they got some of those amazing shots. 
Brian


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## kevink (Sep 30, 2010)

glad everyone is enjoying the links...

and as promised, here are some more

PBS Nature - Silence of the Bees 

this didnt work for me due to the fact that im in ireland, but it should work if your in america

and...

a nice documentary on Varroa 

hope ye all enjoy them as much as i have!


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

Very interesting since this video is on Hulu titled "Bees - Living for the Queen" and the narrator is British sounding with and entirely different script. :scratch:


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## kevink (Sep 30, 2010)

mmmm my bad, i googled the Silence of the bees and got the page above, and cause i couldnt watch it, i assumed that was it :s

sorry about that, at least ye know what to look for! lol

its a very interesting documentary, its what i first saw when i started looking into beekeeping


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