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Changes in the structure of sounds generated by bee colonies during sociotomy

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Abstract

The structure of noise generated by honey bee colonies in the course of preparation for sociotomy (swarming, i.e., separation of the young queen and some bees from the parental colony) was studied. Identification of statistically uniform fragments in the temporal structure of the hive noise can be used to determine reliably the readiness to colony fission. The probability of statistically uniform sound fragments being generated increases as the swarm emergence approaches. The role of sound in consolidation of colony members and synchronization of changes in their physiological state is discussed.

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Correspondence to E. K. Eskov.

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Original Russian Text © E.K. Eskov, V.A. Toboev, 2011, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2011, Vol. 90, No. 2, pp. 192–198.

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Eskov, E.K., Toboev, V.A. Changes in the structure of sounds generated by bee colonies during sociotomy. Entmol. Rev. 91, 347–353 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873811030092

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