In a message dated 1/23/00 12:30:17 PM, [log in to unmask] writes: <<Then again, how would he thump the hive in order to activate that vital hiss?>> Thump the hive? Each thump will be as different as the thumper. Doesn't this introduce a random element that might skew otherwise reliable information. The difference between one beekeeper's ham-fisted thud and another's deft rap could elicit great variations in hiss, could they not? John