Forschungsprojekt

Research project "The Sound of Bees

Bees buzz. For a hearing person, this sound or noise triggers different reactions. The buzzing of a busy collecting bee has a calming effect; it is frightening when guard bees go on the attack with an aggressive sound.

Based on this sound, attention is paid to the "mood" of the bees. This helps beekeepers to perceive the condition of their bee colonies and to interpret their behaviour. And musicians are inspired by the bees to create their own sounds.

Initial situation

From the sound of the bees is a artistic research by Beat Hofmann and his team. The subject of the research is the vocalisations of the honey bee (Apis mellifera).

It is investigated which sounds can be perceived in a beehive.

For this purpose, Beat Hofmann and his team housed a bee colony in an experimental box equipped with microphones. For almost ten weeks between April and June 2013, the sound was recorded day and night. Films of this are available on the Page See, Hear, Read to see.

Evaluation options

From this abundance of recordings, an attempt is made to find criteria that enable a classification of sounds and noises:

Are there (in addition to those already discovered) further differentiated "expressions" that can be perceived and qualified as patterns?
Are new conclusions perhaps possible about the bees' state of mind and behaviour?

If this is the case, beekeeping and natural science could have a tool at their disposal that allows predictions to be made about the behaviour of bees, enables assessments to be made of the condition of the bee colony and offers help in caring for and looking after the animals.
Further information and detailed statistics can be found at the page Research data.

Impressions from 13.4.2013 (start of the trial)

To complement the transdisciplinary sound installation "be a bee" at the Zoological Museum of the University of Zurich (2012/2013), which emerged from this research, workshops were held for school classes on the topic of "The Sound of Bees".

Participants in the project

Beat Hofmann, Musician
Andrew Phillips, sound engineer and sound designer
Barbara Schück, Coaching and Beekeeper
Angelina Birchler, beekeeper
Annemarie Brunner, beekeeper
Beekeepers' Association Hinwil, Support
Wetzikon Vocational School, Support
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Tautz, Biocentre University of Würzburg, Research
Cognitive Neuroinformatics, Carolin Zschippig, M.Sc., University of Bremen, Research
Jean-Claude Stuck, computer support

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BeABee Association

Im Chratz 16, CH-8627 Grüningen, Tel. +41 (0)44 935 56 56
info@beabee.ch, www.beabee.ch, IBAN CH97 0070 0110 0041 8111 7