Queen piping

[donaldmc49]

Hi all,

Today for the first time in my humble 2 years of beekeeping, I finially hear
what I believe is the queen piping!! I've heard recording posted on the
internet, but this is the first time I heard it from a hive.

What a beautiful, haunting sound!

I've looked in the archives on Bee-L (and here) about piping and found a lot of info-
very confusing.
..Soo, I'm asking if some of the more expreinced members would mind commenting on a few question I have.

I opened the piping hive, to find over a half a dozen queen cells, all
capped! The piping was still coming from the hive, even as I removed,
examined and replaced the frames. The sound seemed to move about in the 2
broad box hive.

Many questions are dancing in my head!!!

Why is the existing queen piping (is it a queen??)?

If I have a laying queen,(I see larvae) why the queen cells!? (the cells are
in the center and on the bottom edge of the frames)?

There is plenty of room in the hive, it was started from a 3-4 lb package
with a painted queen on April 28th, I could not find her, but I hear the
piping!

But was it from the original queen?

So why swarm or supersede?

Can queens in cells pipe?

Can workers be making this haunting sound?

Should I split this hive dividing the capped queen cells to stop a swarm?

Enough questions.....

The piping is an interesting and very beautiful sound; reminds me of whale
song!!

A joy to hear.


Thanks

Don
Mohegan Lake, NY

[Michael Bush]

>I opened the piping hive, to find over a half a dozen queen cells, all
capped! The piping was still coming from the hive, even as I removed,
examined and replaced the frames. The sound seemed to move about in the 2
broad box hive.

If it's moving around in the hive, then it's from an emerged queen. If it's staying stationary, it's probably from a queen in a cell.

>Why is the existing queen piping (is it a queen??)?

Maybe. Maybe it's the old queen getting ready to swarm? I'm not sure if they do, but I have heard that. Usually only virgin and emerging queens make those kind of noises. The emerging ones make a bit more of a "quack quack quack quack" sound. While the virgins make more of a "zooot zooot zooot zooot" sound. Probably it's not the original queen making the sound. If it's the "zooot zooot zooot" sound you probably have a swarm queen who emerged and the bees are keeping her away from the other cells do they can have more swarms.

>If I have a laying queen,(I see larvae) why the queen cells!? (the cells are
in the center and on the bottom edge of the frames)?

You HAD a laying queen recently. Perhaps you have a laying queen, perhaps she left yesterday or the day before. The bottom edge queen cells are usually swarm cells.

>There is plenty of room in the hive, it was started from a 3-4 lb package
with a painted queen on April 28th, I could not find her, but I hear the
piping!

Plenty of room doesn't always stop bees from swarming. But it helps

>But was it from the original queen?

Probably not.

>So why swarm or supersede?

Because they are bees. It's what they do.


>Can queens in cells pipe?

They make that "quack quack quack" sound. I think it's the same as piping except changed by being in the cell.

>Can workers be making this haunting sound?

No.

>Should I split this hive dividing the capped queen cells to stop a swarm?

Might be the best. That's what I would do.

>The piping is an interesting and very beautiful sound; reminds me of whale
song!!

Yes it is.

>A joy to hear.

I agree

[hoosierhiver]

zooot zooot zooot