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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
James Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 28 Aug 2023 23:29:21 -0400
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> If you run a wet finger over the window of the observation box and create a "squeaky noise", you can observe a similar behavior as when "beeping" in all bees of the hive: all bees remain rigid for the duration of the "squeaking sound"

This is likely due to the creation of a frequency that matches "queen piping" frequencies, (roughly G# to A, about 410 Hz to 440 Hz).  Queen piping frequencies make all bees within range freeze for the duration of  the tone, but resume movement as if nothing had happened between tones.

On the 1990s, I took some recordings of individual queens piping, and put them onto a single chip sound source of the sort one finds in singing birthday cards, and imbedded them in top bars, in an attempt to make a "stingless" inspection possible.  The bees on the comb behaved as expected, but to freeze an entire hive required amplified sound pressure levels that seemed to approach the loudness of jet aircraft, and required the beekeeper to wear both in-the-ear earplugs AND over-the-ear shooting "earmuffs".  So, not very practical.  

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