Our latest podcast rambles around the bees’ ears. Available everywhere you grab your podcasts. Enjoy.

Season 1 Episode 4: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – The Bees’ Ears

In this episode, we discover that insects, including bees, can hear. They have three ways of picking up sound – through their antennae, their feet, and through their armour (exoskeleton). Since bees can hear, does music calm the bees and reduce stings? And since bees can hear, does the old tradition of “Telling the Bees” make sense? Is that why, upon Queen Elizabeth’s death, the royal bees were told about her passing by the royal beekeeper? Why?

How do  bees buzz? Do they hear their own buzzing? Is the tone of a happy hive (261 Hz, middle C on a piano) the basis for all western music? If bees aren’t dancing at a party, do they feel left out and get sad? Is it wrong for us to attribute human thoughts and emotions to bees? Should there be bee insect sanctuaries? Where? How would that work? When Asian honey bees do their flash dance, is it noisy?

Finally, why don’t honey bees pollinate tomatoes? They can’t, but bumble bees can. It’s got everything to do with insect size, weight, and something called buzz pollination. Listen to this episode as we compare their buzzing skills.

Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site
About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/
Watch the podcast:  https://www.youtube.com/@ABCCPodcast