# Sawdust and bees



## brooksbeefarm (Apr 13, 2008)

I know i've got to much time on my hands:s.Anyway I was working in the shop building hives, lids, screen bottomboards, ect. it was in the mib 60's and i had the door open (the big sliding door) and as usual the bees were checking things out. What interested me (and i have seen this before) is that several were flying into the pile of sawdust under the tabel saw climing out and flying toward the bee yard. I'm thinking are they just having fun or do they get some kind of pollen from sawdust or maybe they are like some other animals that dust their selves to get rid of fleas,lice or maybe mites?:scratch: Have any of you seen this? Jack


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Yep.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-196779.html


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## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

I have seen the same thing when we were building boxes


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

Barry D has some good pics of bees working saw dust. I will see if he still has them.


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## walking bird (Mar 2, 2008)

Any time I get the saw going for any length of time, I get curious bees. Maybe the smell of the wood? Maybe they're just as attracted to power tools as I am?


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## honeydreams (Aug 10, 2009)

So if people have seen bees work sawdust? why do bees work it?


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

You may find this very interesting: (I am not advocating nor endorsing the product)
FEEDING METHODS 

Powder feeding is done when the temperature is warm enough & it is not raining or windy, thus comfortable climatic conditions for bees to get out of their hives for normal foraging. In this method powdered Feedbee is put in cone shape pollen feeders (blue color in Fig 1, 2) or any other containers & is placed in the middle of the yard or an elevated place where bees can reach easily.
POWDER FEEDING METHOD IN HUNGARY (This includes a video!)

http://www.feedbee.com/support/

Regards,
Ernie


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## Vance (Jun 2, 2009)

I've noticed the same thing. Last fall i was using a skill saw to cut out some Christmas yard decorations. It was a very nice day in November temps mid 60's and the saw dust was covered with bees. Don't know but it was fun to watch.


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## brooksbeefarm (Apr 13, 2008)

They remined me of the old news reels at the movies (that ought to tell you how old i am) of the Jap kamikaze pilots flying into our ships. The bees didn't seem to slow down when they flew into the pile of saw dust and would roll around in it. It was funny to watch and i wondered if they were smart enough to get rid of mites by knocking them off or going back to the hive to get them groomed off? or was using it as a food source. Maybe i'm giving to much credit for being smart. Jack


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## Gene Weitzel (Dec 6, 2005)

Cut or broken wood is a good source of tree sap, one of the components of propolis. Even though the sawdust may appear dry, they probably can still find little chunks of sap. When I mill fresh logs with my saw-mill, it does not take long for the girls to discover that the fresh sawdust contains chunks of sap that are just the right size to carry off. They dig around in the sawdust pile for days until a rain comes and it gets packed down too hard.


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

They will collect sawdust at times of the year when there is little else. They will also collect sulphur and store it in the combs like pollen. Can't be good for them.


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## Barry Digman (May 21, 2003)

Hambone said:


> Barry D has some good pics of bees working saw dust. I will see if he still has them.


Here is the thread from the first of the year. In this case I think the bees were after pollen. It was January.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225728&highlight=pollen

Rabbitbrush is about the last thing to bloom here and it seems to still be slightly fragrant and holding a little pollen all through winter. We got 3-5" of snow yesterday, but it will be 60F or more this weekend and they'll be trying to scavange anything they can.


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## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

Rather than start a new thread on the same subject, I thought I would revive this one. I've noticed bees playing around in saw dust for years and even bird feeders, but their behavior is not the same as when foraging. They are almost aggressive towards the saw dust and almost seem to be wrestling with it. I placed a pile of MegaBee next to the saw dust they are attending and they treat the two piles completely differently. They hover above the MegaBee and then land on it lightly. I have not seen the bees collect powdered protein on their corbicula but they don't seem to be bathing in it or wrestling in it the way they do saw dust.


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

I'd be very interested to know exactly why they get into sawdust.

When I was in High School, My Dad was cutting up a big elm at the foot of our property. It was huge, and it seemed like an acre was covered in bucked-up wood and saw dust. My Dad called me over at one point to look at the bees.

He had two strong hives then, and it looked like every bee he had and others from somewhere else were in that sawdust. Thousands and thousands of them; everywhere you looked, they were rolling and buzzing and digging in it.

We had no real understanding of what they were into it for, and still don't. Sap for propolis sounds plausible, but I don't know for sure.

Adam


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## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

It may sound extreme, but I suspect it may make for an interesting research project. The bees don't look like they are after food. Food gathering is methodical and elegant. These gals are having a sumo match with the saw dust and they are aggressive toward one another for whatever benefit they seek. I looked carefully to see if they were after the smaller dust particles thinking it was a food source but they seemed more interested in the larger flecks and were really having a wrestling match with the stuff. It looks to me like a mechanical exercise meant to accomplish something they feel is urgent but not a food. I would swear they were taking a saw dust bath and were willing to fend off other girls for their corner of the spa.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

But that is how they gather pollen. The roll in it and then comb it off their hair and pack it into their baskets.


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## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

I've read enough of your posts to think you are either pulling my leg or aren't visualizing what is going on. Just for your own edification try placing some saw dust next to some pollen substitute and watch their behavior (the bees not the piles) The bees aren't just rolling in the saw dust they are getting in a wrestling match with it. The behavior is aggressive in nature and lacks any corbicula action. In other words, I don't think they are feeding on my wood dust. It would be interesting to label some saw dust with a radio isotope and see if it gets into the bee bread.


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## irwin harlton (Jan 7, 2005)

They also like , are attracted to, used coffee grinds


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I've seen what you describe in the dust from the chicken scratch. They reminded me of the chickens dusting to get the bird lice off...


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