[MaineMike]

Being an old sound guy I had some gear sitting around and wondered, Hmm what if?

So I took a (1) ART USB Dual Pro Preamp, which can be powered by a 9V battery, has a 3.5mm headphone out and supplies phantom power to the condenser mic, (2) a Behringger EMC8000 microphone and (3) a pair of old computer headphones and headed out to the bee yard...

Stuck the mic into the candy board vent hole and wa la! Bzzzzzzzzzzzz, alive bees.

If your vent hole isn't large enough this may not work, as it seems the end of the mic has to get just inside the hive to block out the outside ambient noise.

Just wanted to share in case anyone wanted to try it for themselves.

FYI, the stethoscope trick didnt work for me, but this did.

Mike

 

[calkal]

Being an old sound guy I had some gear sitting around and wondered, Hmm what if?

So I took a (1) ART USB Dual Pro Preamp, which can be powered by a 9V battery, has a 3.5mm headphone out and supplies phantom power to the condenser mic, (2) a Behringger EMC8000 microphone and (3) a pair of old computer headphones and headed out to the bee yard...

Stuck the mic into the candy board vent hole and wa la! Bzzzzzzzzzzzz, alive bees.

If your vent hole isn't large enough this may not work, as it seems the end of the mic has to get just inside the hive to block out the outside ambient noise.

Just wanted to share in case anyone wanted to try it for themselves.

FYI, the stethoscope trick didnt work for me, but this did.

Mike

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Cool idea. I love listening to my colonies in the winter. I'm low tech, I just crawl from hive to hive and put my ear against the entrance opening. Total music to my ears only problem is I am wearing the knees out of my overalls😅

 

[AR1]

I use a stethoscope.

 

[MaineMike]

My stethoscope doesnt work through foam insulation, it is not loud enough, nor do the ear pieces fit snug enough in my ears to block outside noise.

 

[calkal]

My stethoscope doesnt work through foam insulation, it is not loud enough, nor do the ear pieces fit snug enough in my ears to block outside noise.

I use polystyrene also, a plain ear sealed up tight against the poly works very well, much better than a stethoscope but when there are 4 hives in a row the 2 middle ones can be awkward to get the ear sealed well because the hives to either side are in the way. Poly seems to be more acoustic than wood or maybe it is transmitting vibration better...don't know.
An ear at the entrance is tell tale for me.

 

[cyber]

Awesome idea. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AR1]

Stethoscopes don't work if you can't get a good seal. Rough or uneven wood for example.

 

[JWPalmer]

My stethoscope doesnt work through foam insulation, it is not loud enough, nor do the ear pieces fit snug enough in my ears to block outside noise.

Maybe time to step up to one of the less expensive Littmann's? You can get a Classic III for under $100. The home use ones you get at CVS are worthless.