My bees are sending Morse code signals

[71Corvette]

Ok, so this is probably going to sound kind of crazy... I have a hive that swarmed about two weeks ago. This evening I stopped by the hive and noticed the bees were buzzing in what sounded a lot like Morse code. One loud buzz about a half second long followed by three or four short loud buzzes. After about ten seconds of normal buzzing they repeated it again.

Has anyone ever heard of this? I'm not totally loosing my mind, my wife heard it too...

[Ben Franklin]

Your not losing your mind, nor is your wife. I lost mine a long time ago,,my mind not my wife. I heard something like that too. I also have had the pleasant experience to hear and feel a Queen, now I can't remember what I was talking about.

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Which did you hear and feel? Queen Elizabeth II (UK), Queen Beatrix (Netherlands), Queen Megrethe II (Denmark) Your wife was OK with that?
Bees have a number of vibrational communications that have been studied and recorded. I have three research papers at work that I just shared with our lab tech.

[Frontyard Beekeeper]

What you are hearing is a virgin queen piping. They will do that shortly after emerging.

[AmericasBeekeeper]

There is also worker piping, and some similar signals.

[Ben Franklin]

I'm am glad we can laugh with each other,,,Yes I heard and felt the Queen Piping,,I simply lost my wording. But she was in a gage, and came thru the mail.

Did she pipe because she could smell the hive and bees??

[DC Bees]

That's a queen piping i believe.My observation hive had some queen cells earlier this year and they would vibrate there wings while still in there cells.It was like they were communicating back and forth!Pretty cool stuff!

[71Corvette]

You guys crack me up, got a good laugh from this thread.

So what's the purpose of this piping? What is being communicated?

[Ben Franklin]

You guys crack me up, got a good laugh from this thread.

So what's the purpose of this piping? What is being communicated?

She's Horny??

[Michael Pawelek]

She's warning any of the other unopened queen cells that they are in big trouble.

[lazy shooter]

I've felt a few queens, or at least, I thought they were queens at the time.

[KQ6AR]

Are you trying to get all of us ham radio operators on bee source excited?
We'll pay top dollar for queens we can communicate with!

[Keth Comollo]

Piping! Love the sound! Sounds like bagpipes on helium!!

[Gord]

I'm pretty sure the queen is calling any other queens in the nest.
She'll go kill any that answer.
*****.

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Unless you know the frequencies or can isolate the source, it can also be workers piping. Dr. Wenner is in Point of View - http://www.beesource.com/point-of-view/adrian-wenner/
The Evolution of Bee Language, Harald Esch, Sci Am April 1967 250 cps,
Communication among Social Bees, Martin Lindaur, Harvard Press, 1961
Sound: An Element Common to Communication of Stingless Bees and to Dances of the Honey Bee, Harald Esch and Warwick E Kerr, Sci, Vol 149, No 3681, pp 320-321, July 16, 1965
Sound Production During the Waggle Dance of the honey Bee, A. M. Wenner, Animal Behavior, Vol 10, No ½, pp 79-95, 1962
Sound Communication in Honey Bees, Adrian M Wenner, Sci Am, April 1964
Communication with Queen Honey Bees by Substrate Sound, A M Wenner, Sci, Vol 138, No 3538, pp 446-447, Oct 1962
Dialects in the Language of the Bees, Karl Von Frisch, Sci Am August 1962
The Dancing Bees, Karl Von Frisch, Harcort, Brace and Company, 1955
The Sounds Produced by Swarming Honey Bees, H. Esch, Physiol 56, pp 408-411
Manipulation, Modulation, information, Cognition: Some riddles of Communication, H Markl, Experimental Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, pp 163-194
Worker Piping: The Piping Signals Produced by Laying and Guarding Honey Bees, J Apic, Res 19, pp 154-163
Worker Piping Associated with Foraging in Undisturbed Queenright Colonies of Honey Bees, Apidologie 27, pp13-20
Worker Piping in Honey Bee Swarms and its Role in Preparing for Liftoff, J Comp, Physiol A 187, pp 667-676