Established queen 'piping'

[Angularity]

My Carniolan queen is making short piping noises, audible from outside the hive. She has been in the hive for a couple of months, is laying well and there are no queen cells.

I have read that queens may do this to reduce aggression from the workers. Is this a common thing for Carniolans, or os something more subtle going on?

 

[Wingy]

I’d be interested in any experienced replies to this also. I have a 2018 Buckfast Q that was piping a couple of months ago during an inspection. I did a recording and sent to my mentor who advised it did sound like a virgin Q and to do a thorough inspection. Took me over 1/2 hour going through Langstroth double brood, found my Q but no sign of VQ or any evidence of Q cells.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I heard a queen piping in one of my 3 frame nucs after an inspection. The nuc has a laying queen that developed from a queen cell this year.

I guess it's possible that a virgin queen wandered in and started piping but much more likely that it's the young mated queen. ?

 

[birdsandbees]

I've heard mature queens Pipe before, didn't really think it was anything to worry about myself, no reason why she couldn't I suppose and I've never read anything saying that they can't. Unlike Mated queens apparently being unable to feed themselves and being reliant on workers to feed them, absolute pish, seen queens feeding themselves many times.

 

[Millet]

Workers do it also..

 

[beeno]

I’d be interested in any experienced replies to this also. I have a 2018 Buckfast Q that was piping a couple of months ago during an inspection. I did a recording and sent to my mentor who advised it did sound like a virgin Q and to do a thorough inspection. Took me over 1/2 hour going through Langstroth double brood, found my Q but no sign of VQ or any evidence of Q cells.

Let's have the recording!

 

[beeno]

Most of the piping I have heard has been in relation to newly emerged queens and it usually stops after two days when there is no other queen to challenge in the hive. In other circumstances I would automatically assume that I had missed a QC. As we all know virgins are difficult to spot.

 

[SDM]

Yep, I'd be shaking bees off frames looking for a sneaky cell .

 

[Madge]

Workers do it also..

I’ve never heard workers piping, but I found a video of somebody claiming it’s worker bees piping. It is a kind of piping, but does not sound the same as a queen’s piping. You can’t confuse the two sounds.

 

[Saffabee]

I have this currently in my hives and have had it every year for the last 3 years, it sounds like a high pitched buzzing/ pipping sound and it doesn't come from the queen it seems to come from the workers. I have held up a frame that i know doesn't have the queen on and heard it and when i pin pointed the sound there was only workers seen.

It is always in the autumn time and I thought it was due to wasp action.

Edit: I thought I had recorded it on youtube here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkHYxUKHPjM

 

[Wingy]

Most of the piping I have heard has been in relation to newly emerged queens and it usually stops after two days when there is no other queen to challenge in the hive. In other circumstances I would automatically assume that I had missed a QC. As we all know virgins are difficult to spot.

That’s exactly what I thought also seconded by my mentor when I sent him the audible recording
This hive had an early 2018 F2 Buckfast Q she was well established and a prolific layer having built up to 14 frames of BIAS on double Langstroth hive with 3 supers over QE. This hive was full of bees and as said above I went through every frame clearing it of bees and checking, there was definitely no other Q, I am quite good at spotting them but also no evidence of Q cells either open or not.

 

[Madge]

I have this [worker bees piping] currently in my hives and have had it every year for the last 3 years ...
Edit: I thought I had recorded it on youtube here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkHYxUKHPjM

That sounds similar to the video I've seen (or listened to) of worker bees piping: https://youtu.be/QHjbyvp0b3I .

 

[Wingy]

Workers do it also..

Learned something new there but to be honest that is the only explanation I could offer from what I witnessed

 

[Millet]

I’ve never heard workers piping, but I found a video of somebody claiming it’s worker bees piping. It is a kind of piping, but does not sound the same as a queen’s piping. You can’t confuse the two sounds.

I have 100% heard a worker piping and it was the same sound as a Queen as far as i could hear...i could not tell which worker was piping but it was on a frame with no Queen on it as she was found on the second next frame.