stringing behavior

[yolanda huang]

I did a hive check today and the bees were hanging onto each other and refusing to let go.  Photos attached.  What is this behavior.  Should I do anything?

Yolanda

[Paula Breen]

Hi Yolanda, 

That is called festooning. The bees are building a living scaffolding with their bodies and that is how they build comb. Look it up it's pretty fascinating.

On Fri, May 22, 2026, 5:01 PM yolanda huang <yogre...@gmail.com> wrote:

I did a hive check today and the bees were hanging onto each other and refusing to let go.  Photos attached.  What is this behavior.  Should I do anything?

Yolanda

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[Robin Chatham]

.Isn't that cute. Its festooning. Stringing and clinging together with their little velcro feet and legs.

They do this to hang while drawing wax burr comb or a sheet of wax comb. It helps them measure spacing between sheets of comb and measure distance between hexagonal cells.

They festoon to provide a highway for other bees to travel on by walking across them.

They do that when its cold to cluster together and when they swarm to cluster and hang on a bush, tree, fence etc.

Its quite handy.

You can gently put a finger or your hand behind them and pull toward you. They will unlink and walk on your hand. It tickles and is thrilling. 

On Fri, May 22, 2026, 5:01 PM yolanda huang <yogre...@gmail.com> wrote:

I did a hive check today and the bees were hanging onto each other and refusing to let go.  Photos attached.  What is this behavior.  Should I do anything?

Yolanda

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[Ellen McDonald]

Very cool, Robin!

Sent from my iPhone

On May 22, 2026, at 5:37 PM, Robin Chatham <Angel202...@gmail.com> wrote:



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