Piping, Squealing, Hissing In The Hive

WARNING (and this is particularly aimed at my friend Mark) – If you are not a beekeeper do not read this post.

During my inspection and hive manipulations on the 17th May (Post: Bee Inspection), there was a really high pitched squeal (a bit like a high pitched hiss of steam escaping under pressure), followed by another one when I put the frame with the Queen swarm cell in the poly nuc (small hive).  I’m not sure if this was because they realised they now had the chance of a Queen or because some fights broke out with the few bees from the foreign hive. Or it might have been a piping sound indicating that there was a queen in the hive?  Eek.  On reflection it could have been the later – but was she mated, unmated, able to sting?

Welcome To How My Mind Works

Lots of options, lots of questions, please help:

1. The squeal – what was it?
2. What will happen next if there is a Queen in the hive:
   1. Will the Queen (or workers) kill the larval Queen (can she do this if she has mated)?
      1. If this happens I could end up with the unmated Queen in the hive?
   2. Will the hive swarm if there is a Queen (mated / unmated) in the hive and a capped swarm cell?
3. What should I do?
   1. Should I take the frame with the Queen cell out or leave alone now?
   2. Should I try and find the Queen in the hive (if there is one) and remove her as she is unmated?
4. Questions about Queen mating:
   1. Does it have to be 16C or over for Queen bee to go on mating flights (I read this somewhere)?
   2. Do Queen have to get mated within 3 weeks (I read this somewhere)?
   3. If they don’t get mated within 3 weeks (or longer) what happens to them?
   4. Particular to my hive – If the Queen in the hive has been there 5 weeks is there still a chance she could get mated?

Postscript – BBKA Forum Response

I posted my question on the BBKA Discussion Board and got the following response (many thanks):

It’s reasonable to assume that one or other queen did emerge from the queencell and there’s a queen in the hive. If the weather has been less than 16 degrees, then she would be unlikely to have mated. You have now put a queencell in the hive so it’s quite possible that the piping you heard is from one or other queen. As a result you will either have a swarm with the older virgin leaving (more likely with a populous hive); the queencell could be torn down from the back or the queen could emerge from the queencell and then fight with the older one.

To check for queenlessness the procedure is to put in a test frame of eggs / young brood to see if they raise a queencell. One check to see if there’s a queen in the hive is to look where the brood should be. If that space of polished cells is surrounded by an arc of stores, then it’s a pretty sure sign that the bees are ready for the queen to lay and she’s there. (Somewhere).

With a careful check you may be able to find the young queen (they tend to be quite quick-moving) and then decide what you want to do. (Use little smoke). You are right that queens that fail to mate for more than a month or so are likely to mate poorly or become drone layers.

My Research On Piping Queens

Virgin queens that have not hatched out communicate by making a “quacking” from their queen cells. Queens free in the colony make a “tooting” sound. “Quacking” and “tooting” are collectively known as “piping”.

A virgin queen may frequently quack 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 thought that the piping is a battle cry to announce her willingness to fight the other Queen and to let the worker bees know she is strong and worthwhile supporting.

Listening to the videos below, the sound was like a tooting. Hence, looks like their may have been a Queen in the hive. Mated or unmated.  If she was been unmated she will have become a drone layer … but I just didn’t see any eggs or larvae.

Quacking Queen Video

Tooting Queen Videos

The sound from my hive was like this.

Read More

• Where we are in the Beekeeping Calendar
• Key beekeeping activities of the moment: Varroa Management / Swarm Management
• One year ago in the apiary: Life Without Bees
• Two years ago in the apiary: Bees on the outside of the hive – is this normal?
• Hive Record Cards: Hive Two, Hive Three, Poly Nuc