Sound from hive - what is it?

[testka]

Hi,

Opened up my hive today to check if new queen has started laying. Thankfully she has and I have seen eggs on a couple of frames. No larvae so assume queen only just started laying. When I opened the hive there was a sort of 'quacking' sound I have never heard before. Being in only my second year of beekeeping I'm sure there is loads I haven't seen or heard yet.

Anyone have any ideas what it is? I have uploaded a vid to you tube with where you can hear the sound.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7foR9_n-IE&feature=youtube_gdata[/ame]

Thanks.

 

[susbees]

Did you check the frames thoroughly? Sounds like a queen about to emerge from a capped queen cell. Noise is piping. And unless it's supercedure they'll probably swarm PDQ...

 

[testka]

Thanks for that i did think queen piping but seems a bit too early to have a new queen cell. The new queen has only come into lay and should have hatched on the 18th may. Did leave two sealed cells originally.
Never know though. Would the queen make this kind of noise for any other reason.?


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[Busy Bee]

If the queen is laying I'd say there is no other queen she would have been killed. (There could be a possibility of 2 queens if it was a supersedure, mother and daughter.)

Sometimes when you open a hive and begin a hive inspection you can hear noises coming from the drones as they shutter their wings. I have noticed different levels of noise according to queen state, mostly louder if the queen is a virgin this is only in my experience.


Busy Bee

 

[testka]

Thanks for that Busy Bee and Susbees. I will listed out the next time I open the hive.

 

[susbees]

....a link to your video would have been useful

 

[Juststarting]

....a link to your video would have been useful

I'm sure there was one originally - or am I going mad and seeing things!

 

[drstitson]

i often hear quacking when i open up my hives (and gobbling too). but that'll just be the ducks and turkeys roaming around me to see why i am dressed all funny.

 

[testka]

I'm sure there was one originally - or am I going mad and seeing things!

Yes wierd, I did put the link up and could go to it before. Here it is again
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7foR9_n-IE&feature=youtube_gdata[/ame]

Odd I can still see the original link when I view the forum from my phone.

 

[malawi2854]

How very interesting - I've heard of queen piping, but never actually heard it - great recording.

What is the reason for the noise? Is it the noise she makes as she emerges?

 

[sawdstmakr]

Sounds like a Mud Dobber wasp when they are building a mud nest. They also make the same sound when the young are trying to get out of the sealed nest.
Jim

 

[enrico]

Brilliant recording....well done...never heard it in 30 years of beekeeping!
E

 

[RoseCottage]

Wiki tells us the following:

"Piping
Piping describes a noise made by virgin and mated queen bees during certain times of the virgin queens' development. Fully developed virgin queens communicate through vibratory signals: "quacking" from virgin queens in their queen cells and "tooting" from queens free in the colony, collectively known as piping. A virgin queen may frequently pipe before she emerges from her cell and for a brief time afterwards. Mated queens may briefly pipe after being released in a hive.

Piping is most common when there is more than one queen in a hive. It is postulated that the piping is a form of battle cry announcing to competing queens and the workers their willingness to fight. It may also be a signal to the worker bees which queen is the most worthwhile to support.

The piping sound is a G♯ or A♮. The adult queen pipes for a two-second pulse followed by a series of quarter-second toots.[2] The queens of Africanized bees produce more vigorous and frequent bouts of piping."

However, I have heard a lot of queen piping recently, including in a stable mature hive with what was apparently piping when I had the queen in my hands...It came from somewhere else. There was no possibility of a virgin in the colony as the bees have been behaving really well and show no signs of being distracted and have not created any queen cells this year. So I believe that she pipes for other reasons as well...not sure what though, yet.

All the best,
Sam

 

[drstitson]

my first piping a fortnight ago was in a hive with a nice newly emerged queen and a ripe about to pop queen cell on another frame.

the only quacking so far still remains that emanating from charlie duck and his girls doing the rounds.

 

[RoseCottage]

I wonder if one type of queen is more prone to piping than another?
Sam

 

[RoseCottage]

While I am thinking of it there are a couple of interesting links too:

http://www.webworldarticles.com/e/a/title/What-is-piping-behavior-of-honey-bees/
and
http://wallacefamilyapiary.wordpres...e-queen-piping-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-done/

and for sounds:
http://www.lcbaor.org/piping.htm


All the best,
Sam

 

[Busy Bee]

I have heard queens piping before but never sounded like that. Maybe I'm wrong or its a pipe from a different strain of bee but nothing I've heard before.


Busy Bee