Ok, as some of you may know, I've got a pond in the backyard. Anyway, the story is that I was bored and my sis was doing something which involved paint and paintbrushes. Bees like to use this pond as a watering hole during the summer...especially during the evening. I heard they use the water to cool down the hive. So I decided to try a little experiment. I took a paintbrush, dipped it in some blue paint, and went outside. I spent a good portion of the evening dotting the backs of the drinking bees with the paintbrush(if it got on the wings the bee would be temporarily grounded). Most of the time they stayed still long enough to let me put some paint on their backs.
As of today, maybe half of the bees that are coming to the pond have been "marked". I don't know what interests me more...the fact that the paint didn't come off or that the same bees seem to be on the job of getting water for the colony.
Just thought someone might find this amusing.
As of today, maybe half of the bees that are coming to the pond have been "marked". I don't know what interests me more...the fact that the paint didn't come off or that the same bees seem to be on the job of getting water for the colony.
Just thought someone might find this amusing.