Clicking Sound inside the hives

[jimneumann]

I have a question - I started two new hives this year. I have top feeders and one the feeders is not perfectly put together so it leaves a 1/16 inch gap between it and the super below.

I can hear (from 5 feet away) a clicking sound coming from this crack. With a flashlight I can see a bunch of bees working this crack. Does the sound of placing propolis make a clicking sound?

The other option is that they are chewing on the wood.

Anyone have any idea what is taking place in there? The sound is continuous and the entire crack is lined with bees.

Thanks,
Jim

[Scotty]

I am having this same exact problem (situation rather). I thought I was going crazy heh. I'm interested in what everyone has to say http://www.beesource.com/ubb/smile.gif

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-Scotty

Weekly progress of my hive(s): http://bees.total-x.org

[beebarf]

I read somewhere that new queens ready to hatch will make a loud clicking sound. Do you have any supercedure, or swarm cells that are ready to pop? Im still a newbee,(2nd season) so I havnt experenced this before myself.

[Barry Digman]

Search "piping" in the archives. It's a queen noise.

Or just use this link to an explanation of piping, including a downloadable .wmv file of the sound. http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/bionb424/students/dcg5/index.html

[This message has been edited by coyote (edited June 24, 2004).]

[jimneumann]

I listened to the piping and this is definitely not the sound I am hearing. The sound I am hearing is more of a clicking then a piping. Also, there is a lot of it. The closing think I can describe it to would be the sound of a mouse trying to scratch through a wall.
(but there is no mouse in the hive !)

[Daisy]

Maybe this is a job for ghost busters.

[Michael Bush]

It's the bees. If you ever figure out why they do it, I'd love to know. I hear it from time to time in my observation hive, in my living room.

[Axtmann]

Bees regulate the temperature in there hive during the enter and I find out when the enter is not wide enough on a warm day bees trying to made the enter wider. They gnaw on the wood, that’s maybe the sound you heard.

[jimneumann]

That could be. This crack is at the back of the hive and I have no entrance reducer on.

[Scot Mc Pherson]

Nah, its one of the sounds that bees make, maybe communication, I don't nor does anyone seem to know. When I pull combs full of bees from my hives, I can hear the clicking combing from the comb.

Lobster make a ticking sound in communication. Their antenna have rubbing pads that the rub onto a mating pading underneath the antenna. It works a lot like a stick and blackboard turkey call. I am not sure how the bees make the sound though.

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Scot Mc Pherson
Foundationless Small Cell Top Bar Hives
BeeWiki: <A HREF="http://linuxfromscratch.org/~scot/beewiki/" TARGET=_blank>
http://linuxfromscratch.org/~scot/beewiki/</A>
Pics:
http://linuxfromscratch.org/~scot/pics/bees/

[kookaburra]

Jim,
I noticed exactly what you mention. Crack in the back, a row of little bee heads and antennaes in there, and the weird scritching scratching sound.

I'm with axtmann, I think they are just gnawing to make another entrance. (for cooling or whatever).

-rick

[MiamiDolphan]

Maybe the clicking sound is the bees using this website. Others have said that the bees know what they are doing, maybe the do have questions like us.

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J.J.

[jimneumann]

Well, I put a couple layers of duct tape across the crack and a few minutes later the noice stopped. Guess I convinced them to place their energy somewhere else. I think they were gnawing on the wood trying to widen the crack.

Thanks folks.

Jim

[kayakdg]

Good point there, MiamiDolphan. Makes you wonder though, if bees have a preference for Macs or PCs. I would bet a Mac. It's an Apple, after all.