I've always heard that washboarding has more to do with hygenic reasons than evaporating nectar. Most evaporation will first take place inside the hive, on the proboscuses of young, worker bees, and later in the cell, and fanning. I've often watched by bees washboard and, have noticed that generally, the hive is cleared of dirt and such afterwards.
If you look carefully, when bees are washboarding, they are actually dragging their tounges across the surface of the box. Through that observation, and several articles, I've come to the conclusion that washboarding is a practice where bees, being hygenic in nature, clear dirt and debris from their surroundings.
On a side note, one of my hives is located in a spot where, after every storm, they are splashed with some degree of dirt on the white paint. The entire front, and front sides are always a near perfect white within hours after these storms. Notice that it is the same area which they have been washboarding.
Topic: Tails up! (Read 2316 times)