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Scot Mc Pherson
05-28-2004, 12:17 PM
Its is interesting that a lot can be told by the sounds that bees make.

Loud hums, as opposed to gentle buzzing sounds. Queen's piping, and all sorts of other miscellaneous sounds.

It would be interesting for those who have had the experience to post some stranger sounds they have heard.

The one sound that my bees make that is still a mystery to me is a sort of tittering sound. It sounds almost like a watch that ticks randomly, or sounds like taking two flingernails and making a ticking sound with them by pressing them together and letting them snap. Often I can almost pinpoint the bee that's producing the sound, but I can't figure out what it means. It also only seems to happen on the combs, not outside the hive. Sometimes I can stick my head in the back of the hive and listen to them all tittering thusly.

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Scot Mc Pherson
Foundationless Small Cell Top Bar Hives
BeeWiki: http://linuxfromscratch.org/~scot/beewiki/

Michael Bush
05-28-2004, 04:29 PM
I have classified, at least in my mind, what SOME of the sounds are. Bees being robbed have a roaring sound going on. I've heard the clicking/twittering sound. I've never figured out what it means though.

Bees that are about to swarm have a dissanont sound to them.

Daisy
05-28-2004, 05:44 PM
I don't know how to describe sound... of bees.

I just know what normal sounds are so that when the they sound different, I know something out of the ordinary is going on. Like when they're queenless.

The only way to describe that sound is it was a sad sound. They all made the exact same sounds, no chirping, no clicking, so singing. Just a constant sad sound. All giving off the exact tone and pitch. Lower pitch.

Branman
05-28-2004, 05:55 PM
I agree Daisy, and louder than a normal hive.

The only other different hive noises I've heard are when I saw a queen hatch. She gave off a second long medium-high pitched whine sound. She repeated a few times then walked off the frame into the hive.

dcross
05-28-2004, 06:59 PM
I'm getting better at recognizing the queenless noise, but I still jump a little when a drone takes off!