# Do Honey Bee Queens Growl?



## sevenmmm (Mar 5, 2011)

My camera microphone picked up this growling sound, and the sound kept moving away from the frames as I was working them. Check out the sound in the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odkohQIb-nk


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## jrbbees (Apr 4, 2010)

I think the female of any species does that.


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## hipbee (Sep 11, 2009)

thats weird.....never herd anything like that in a hive......sounds like a catfish!


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## wildforager (Oct 4, 2011)

Great video! Interesting that you had a red-ish honey, so did I. I chalked it up to the fact that my bees are under my elderberry bushes and I have concord grapes near by. Maybe the yellow jackets opened up the fruit to be sampled by the honey bees? Interesting that you're 25 miles north of me and had similar honey....hmmm.


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

They definitely give fair warning when you get into the hive. I think I heard a beware or meet your maker in that growl. Intense! It's like they were sounding together as a group to make the sound of a larger animal. Nice Video!


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## mmiikkee (Jan 6, 2012)

Just checked on my hives and one was growling just like the example you had captured on video. I did not open the hive. It could be heard from outside. It is a strong hive. I was wondering if this is in preparation of swarming. I did get a split from this hive two days ago.

Still enjoying bees,
Mike in GA


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## adamf (Jan 28, 2006)

mmiikkee said:


> Just checked on my hives and one was growling just like the example you had captured on video. I did not open the hive. It could be heard from outside. It is a strong hive. I was wondering if this is in preparation of swarming. I did get a split from this hive two days ago.
> 
> Still enjoying bees,
> Mike in GA


Maybe the "growling" is just the sound of bees vibrating and resonating through the frames and hive wood. They do that.
The OP was banned.

Adam Finkelstein
www.vpqueenbees.com


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## mmiikkee (Jan 6, 2012)

This was definitely a growl. Do you know if a growl indicates something specific?


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

Wolf Bees,,,,,,Apis Wolfsonii,,,,,,,LOL Wings on wood IMO
Rick


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## RAFAEL/PR (Feb 23, 2012)

Queen just telling everyone she a beast!!


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

What makes you think it was the queen? Maybe it's a dissonance caused by an interference pattern in the sound. Where one sound bounces off another you sometimes get such sounds. A friend and I used to whistle loudly with him going and me going down and as the sounds crossed it made an odd third sound reminiscent of the one you recorded.


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## Lburou (May 13, 2012)

Michael Bush said:


> -snip- A friend and I used to whistle loudly with him going and me going down and as the sounds crossed it made an odd third sound reminiscent of the one you recorded.


The sound track did have some kind of resonant harmonic in it, but it is outside my experience. Are you sure you didn't have indigestion at the time?


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## tefer2 (Sep 13, 2009)

He was stepping on a bull frog!


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