10 April 2014
Ms. Bee, why do you buzz?
Reason #1: Mechanics
Bees can’t help it. When
the bee flaps its small wings with amazing speed, it creates a gust of wind. Well, actually, it creates a lot of short,
strong gusts of wind. These small gusts
are so sudden and definite, that we hear it as a buzz. Bee’s aren’t the only
insect that buzzes. Flies buzz and so do many other flying insects. But the bee takes a prize for having a
particularly loud buzz.
Reason #2: Pollination
Some bees buzz even when they’re not flying. Bumblebees are
known for their characteristically loud buzz. However, unlike
hive-dwelling honeybees, bumblebees don’t just buzz when they’re flying.
They can, and do, produce that same buzz without moving their wings. And
it is just the vibration from this flightless buzz that makes the bumblebee a
uniquely valuable pollinator of certain crops.
After landing on a blossom, the large bumblebee grabs
the blossom and holds it tightly. While maintaining this tight grip, it
strongly vibrates while remaining stationary. Nothing less than the
bumblebee’s strong vibration will assure pollination by shaking loose
sufficient quantities of the thick pollen produced by certain species of
plants. No other bee could do this job as consistently or successfully.
Bumbles are specially suited to pollinate a variety of cash
crops including tomatoes, cranberries, almonds, apples, zucchinis, avocados,
and plums. Their unique style of pollination accounts for about 3 billion
dollars in produce each year.
Reason #3: Electronic
Communication
Third, recent speculation suggests that bees may buzz to
enhance their electronic communication. Yes, electronic communication !
Honeybees communicate with each other through a variety of dances. One of the
bees’ “steps” is the waggle dance. When a single bee discovers an area rich in
pollen and honey, the bee returns to the hive and does the waggle dance. The
bee’s dance-moves inform the other bees of the location of the blooms that will
provide the most food.
We always thought it was the waggle dancer’s “moves” that
did the talking. But, now, we’re not so
sure. Researchers discovered that
honeybees generate and pick up an electrical charge when they fly. The
charge is so strong that the flying honeybee produces an electrical
field. In fact, the waggle-dancing bee produces an electrical field so
strong that it has been known to move the antennae of the bees “in the
audience.”
What does all this have to do with buzzing? Well, guess what makes the dancing bee’s
electrical field even stronger? Sound. What kind of sound? The sound of buzzing. So, the buzz of the honeybee may be more than
just the sound its wings happen to make when they flap. That buzz
may be an electronic amplifier that works like a loud speaker to broadcast its
message louder and farther.
“Reason #3” was supposed to be end of the list. But as I was writing, I carelessly imagined
the sound of a swarm of bees . . . buzzing.
And, to my surprise, that sound, even in my imagination, scared me a
little. I felt a “knee-jerk”
reaction. Alarm. I wanted to get to a safe distance –
fast! So, I’ve added another possible
reason why bees buzz . . .
Reason #4: A Warning
Could the bee’s buzz be a warning? Does the buzz of a
swarm of bees scare-off persons or animals that might, otherwise, interfere
with the bees’ work gathering honey and pollen.
And when the bees are “at home,” could the sound of their buzzing also
warn off potential predators or honey robbers that might disturb the bees’
hive?
My own alarm at even the imagined sound of swarm of buzzing
bees reminded me of something. I remembered a story about a movie.
It was rumored that the sound of a swarm of agitated bees
was inserted into the soundtrack of the 1973 horror film, The Exorcist. As the story goes, to keep audience tensions
high during relatively quiet scenes, director William Friedkin had Ron Nagle
recorded and, then, altered the sound of a swarm of angry bees. Finally, the sound was carefully “blended”
into the film’s final soundtrack.
No one actually heard the sound of the buzzing swarm because
no one was supposed to hear it. The recording of the agitated bees was
intentionally introduced at a subliminal
level of volume. That is, the recording
was played at a volume too low to be consciously heard. But the volume was sufficient to allow viewers
(and listeners) to unconsciously “hear” the buzzing swarm and react with their
own fear and agitation.
This classic tale from film history assumes that the sound of the buzzing of a swarm of angry bees is terrifying to human beings. So, maybe the bees’ buzz has yet another purpose: It keeps meddlers at a distance while the bees do their work.
See: The Sound of
Silence for more on the cinematic tale of the subliminal sound of “the
swarm of bees.”
M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville,
Illinois
10 April 2014
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