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Influence of artificial queen-piping sound on the tendency of honeybee,Apis mellifera, colonies to swarm

Influence d'une émission sonore artificielle simulant le sifflement des reines sur la tendance des colonies d'abeilles (Apis mellifera) à essaimer

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Summary

Sinusoidal 650 Hz vibrations, pulsed in a manner similar to that of the piping sound made by queen honeybees, were applied to hives containing colonies of bees. When the vibrations were applied to four hives containing very small colonies with unmated queens less than one week old, all four colonies swarmed, leaving no bees in their hives. Sixteen slightly larger colonies, also containing queens a few days old, were divided into two groups of eight. One group received vibrations and five of the colonies in it swarmed, each leaving a proportion of its bees in its hive. The other eight colonies did not receive vibrations and none of them swarmed.

Résumé

Des vibrations sinusoïdales de 650 Hz, aux «pulses» semblables à ceux du «sifflement» des reines, ont été fournies à des ruches contenant une colonie d'abeilles. Lorsque les vibrations furent appliquées à quatre ruches qui contenaient de très petites colonies pourvues de reines non fécondées et âgées de moins d'une semaine, les quatre colonies essaimèrent sans laisser d'abeilles dans leur ruche. Un groupe de seize colonies, un peu plus grandes, et pourvues aussi de reines âgées de quelques jours, fut divisé en deux groupes de huit colonies. Dans le groupe qui reçut des vibrations, cinq colonies essaimèrent, chacune en laissant une partie de ses abeilles dans la ruche. Dans le deuxième groupe, non soumis aux vibrations, aucune colonie n'essaima.

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Simpson, J., Greenwood, S.P. Influence of artificial queen-piping sound on the tendency of honeybee,Apis mellifera, colonies to swarm. Ins. Soc 21, 283–287 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02226919

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02226919

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