Listening to Bees

Listening to honey bees by sticking a microphone down a beehive on January 24th, 2024, Isle of Newfoundland.
/ phillipcairns
/ mudsongsbeekeeping
/ mudsongs24
mudsongs.org/
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#beekeeping in #newfoundland

[@TheHomesteadatFlatrock]

I wonder if there is a way to normalize the output from the mic for variations in input gain and use the mic at the beginning and through the season to correlate the amplitude of the noise measured to the "health" of the hive. I am thinking that louder sounds mean more activity and somehow, activity would be tied to the number of bees left. There would be alot of other variables but its seems that there should be a correlation under similar weather/temperature conditions. maybe someone has done this?

[@mudsongs]

I don't know if that's been done already, but it wouldn't be too difficult to set up something like that. Certain types of sounds from the colony I'm sure could indicate certain activities or reactions to the environment (reactions to cold, to wind, to a mouse in the hive, etc), but I'd say there are too many variables at play to determine the health of the colony based on how much noise it makes.
That's not to say, however, it would be a fruitless endeavor. Step 1 would be to set up a microphone, or microphones, and collect data -- and then listen to the bees. The size and location of the cluster varies throughout the winter. I would think that as long as the microphone is the same distance from the cluster throughout the winter, a baseline of noise, or buzzing, could be determined.
So on second thought, I think it might work. Internal temperature, humidity and CO2 readings, along with external weather readings and a thermal imaging shot of the cluster to determine the size and location -- and you're off to the races.