Does noise annoy bees?

[BernardBlack]

I was doing a bit of hammering in the apiary, a couple of metres from the hives.

I turned around and the front of the hives were covered in bees. Never seen as many before. I thought at first they were swarming.

Even though they weren’t trying to attack me, I’m assuming they were out because the noise was annoying them?

 

[Ian123]

Probably just an orientation flight…possibly best warmest part of the day?. They don’t normally like machinery or vibration but I doubt you bit of hammering unless on the side of the hive would bother any of them!

 

[JamezF]

My understanding is that bees have no sense of hearing in the way we'd understand it, but they clearly are sensitive to vibration because they use it to communicate. I agree with Ian that a bit of hammering seems pretty unlikely to irritate them unless it's immediately next to the colony. If your mid-life crisis mate fires up his new open-piped Hardly Rideable in the vicinity they might not be best keen on that though.

James

 

[Newbeeneil]

My understanding is that bees have no sense of hearing in the way we'd understand it, but they clearly are sensitive to vibration because they use it to communicate. I agree with Ian that a bit of hammering seems pretty unlikely to irritate them unless it's immediately next to the colony. If your mid-life crisis mate fires up his new open-piped Hardly Rideable in the vicinity they might not be best keen on that though.

James

So you think a helicopter landing within about 150yds of hive might piss them off? BTW I picked up the contract for looking after the guys hives....... but I think I'll move the place we were going to site them a bit further away!

 

[BernardBlack]

Probably just an orientation flight…possibly best warmest part of the day?. They don’t normally like machinery or vibration but I doubt you bit of hammering unless on the side of the hive would bother any of them!

Was about 2pm, warmish.

I left them alone for a half hour or so, and they all seemed to go back inside. So I’m thinking it may have been the vibrations

 

[JamezF]

So you think a helicopter landing within about 150yds of hive might piss them off? BTW I picked up the contract for looking after the guys hives....... but I think I'll move the place we were going to site them a bit further away!

Got no idea about helicopters to be honest. I've never actually been that close to one. I'd suspect that at that sort of distance they'd really not care at all as long as the flight path wasn't over the top of the hives. We occasionally get Chinooks fly directly overhead here at ridiculously low altitude and it freaks out the livestock and I can feel the bass in my chest, but there's never time to see how the bees react. And I imagine we're talking about a rather smaller aircraft in your case.

James

 

[Newbeeneil]

Got no idea about helicopters to be honest. I've never actually been that close to one. I'd suspect that at that sort of distance they'd really not care at all as long as the flight path wasn't over the top of the hives. We occasionally get Chinooks fly directly overhead here at ridiculously low altitude and it freaks out the livestock and I can feel the bass in my chest, but there's never time to see how the bees react. And I imagine we're talking about a rather smaller aircraft in your case.

James

Yeah we gat chinooks through the valley that rattle the windows..... amazing machines tho.

 

[BernardBlack]

Chinooks, now there’s a sight and sound I don’t miss around these parts!

 

[Heather]

I had a neighbour that had a sit-on- lawnmower, and the bees from over a hedge about 8' away stung him. The vibration through the ground did upset them... I moved my bees as he reacted badly - medically not emotionally, bless him..

 

[BernardBlack]

UPDATE


Did a quick check today, and no Queen. No fresh eggs either. Freshest looks to be about 4 days old.

It looks now that those numbers on front of the hive might actually have been a swarm (Saturday)

Queen was clipped, so she probably nose-dived into the ground from the hive entrance. The workers got fed up hanging around, and went back inside.


I checked hive last Thursday. So I must have missed a 6 day+ Q cell