> My comment about piping queens is that is obviously is something other queens "hear"  as they respond to it.

I think we have to be very clear in differentiating inside and outside of the hive. The combs and hive itself pick up and resonate sounds, which the bees can feel through their feet, much as a deaf person feels music through a dance floor or the wood of the piano. 

Airborne sounds are another matter. Most hearing animals have a membrane which captures sound vibrations, converts them into neural signals, and the brain creates the sensation of sound and hearing. Some insects have membranes which are similar to ears:

> The Acridoidea (locusts, grasshoppers) have ears on either side of the first abdominal segment. The tympanal membranes are nearly circular, opaque, and clearly visible upon inspection with the naked eye. The acridid ear is one of the few insect ears known to have the capability of pitch discrimination. 

> In two of the most speciose orders, the Diptera (flies and mosquitoes) and the Coleoptera (beetles), tympanal ears are rare, and surprisingly, the Hymenoptera (wasps, ants, and bees) are completely atympanate as far as we know.

source: http://what-when-how.com/insects/hearing-insects/

But beyond the ability to receive or perceive sound signals, the animal has to assign meaning to the sound. A creature could be able to hear but not really respond to sound because it doesn't mean anything to it. For example, we would not be bothered by the sound of explosions on the Fourth of July, but at other times of year might be very alarmed by continuous unexplained explosions. These sounds have different meanings in different contexts. 

Whether bees can hear is one question; what different sounds mean to them is another.

PLB

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html