'Worker Piping': The Piping Sounds Produced by Laying and Guarding Worker Honeybees

High frequency sounds produced by Cyprian honeybeesApis mellifera cypriawhen confronting their predator, the Oriental hornetVespa orientalis

“…When confronting V. simillima with A. m. ligustica, bee guards produce hissing sounds (Ohtani and Kamada, 1980) with a fundamental frequency of 0.5-0.7 kHz, associated with few, less prominent harmonics of around 1.5-2 kHz. Colonies of A. cerana (Schneider and Kloft, 1971;Fuchs and Koeniger, 1974) and A. florea (Seeley et al, 1982;Sen-Sarma et al, 2002) react to predators by respectively emitting sounds with a fundamental frequency of around 0.3 kHz and 0.5 kHz, and harmonics up to 3.6 kHz and 5 kHz.…”

“…During such aggressive interactions, bees are also able to release alarm pheromones (i.e. isoamyl acetate, 2-heptanone) and to produce typical sounds, namely "hissing" or "shimmering", which may serve as alarms to deter intruder attacks and recruit defending bees (Lindauer, 1956;Schneider and Kloft, 1971;Fuchs and Koeniger, 1974;Ohtani and Kamada, 1980;Seeley et al, 1982;Kastberger and Sharma, 2000;Sen-Sarma et al, 2002). These signals show a 0.3-0.7 kHz fundamental frequency with harmonic bands extending up to 5 kHz.…”

Worker piping associated with foraging in undisturbed queenright colonies of honey bees

“…It was first described by Armbruster (1922) and named for its similarity to the piping of queens. Subsequent descriptions by Örösi-Pál (1932) and Ohtani and Kamada (1980) (Örösi-Pál, 1932;Wenner, 1964;Ohtani and Kamada, 1980). Ohtani and Kamada (1980) The harmonic nature of the sound is evident in an expanded view of the pulse ( fig 2C).…”

“…Subsequent descriptions by Örösi-Pál (1932) and Ohtani and Kamada (1980) (Örösi-Pál, 1932;Wenner, 1964;Ohtani and Kamada, 1980). Ohtani and Kamada (1980) The harmonic nature of the sound is evident in an expanded view of the pulse ( fig 2C). Power spectra of 17 pipes by this bee showed a strong peak at 337 ± 15 Hz (fig 3), similar to the fundamental frequencies of other wing-muscle-generated sounds (Michelsen et al, 1986a(Michelsen et al, , 1986b Örösi-Pál (1932) and Ohtani and Kamada (1980), or the strong first and second harmonics in the sonagrams of Ohtani and Kamada (1980) and Wenner (1964).…”

“…Ohtani and Kamada (1980) The harmonic nature of the sound is evident in an expanded view of the pulse ( fig 2C). Power spectra of 17 pipes by this bee showed a strong peak at 337 ± 15 Hz (fig 3), similar to the fundamental frequencies of other wing-muscle-generated sounds (Michelsen et al, 1986a(Michelsen et al, , 1986b Örösi-Pál (1932) and Ohtani and Kamada (1980), or the strong first and second harmonics in the sonagrams of Ohtani and Kamada (1980) and Wenner (1964). In addition, we found a much higher rate of piping (17 pipes/min) than that indicated by Ohtani and Kamada (1980) and Orösi-Pál (1932).…”