Do Bees Have Ears? Can They Hear?
No, bees don’t have ears. However, that doesn’t mean that they’re deaf. Bees are capable of hearing just not in the way that we humans hear. Instead of using ears, they use their bodies to pick up vibrations as sound. These vibrations are converted into nerve impulses which bees can interpret.
In this article, we’ll learn more about bee hearing as we discuss the following:
- Can bees hear?
- How do bees hear?
- How do bees use sound information?
Can Bees Hear?
Yes, bees can hear. While they have no ears, they can pick up sounds with their bodies. They detect and interpret sound through substrate-borne and airborne vibrations. Substrate-borne, meaning vibrations from the ground, and airborne for vibrations in the air.
In this study, researchers trained bees to respond to sound by associating it with a mild electric shock. Upon hearing the sound, bees would leave the feeder and avoid the shock entirely. [1]
In a later study, the same researchers also trained bees to move according to a sound signal. [2]
Can Bees Hear Us?
Yes, bees can hear us. Bees can detect sound frequencies up to about 500 Hz. Our voices have a frequency of about 85 to 225 Hz and fall within a bee’s audible range.
Do Bees React to Noise?
Yes, bees react to noise. Studies show that noise can elicit different responses in bees. Depending on the noise frequency, bees may show an increase or decrease in activity. [3]
In one study, bees were shown to freeze when introduced to noise between 500 to 1000 Hz and above 108 decibels. [4]
Do Bees Like Music?
It’s unclear whether or not bees like music. However, studies show that they prefer or like rhythmic sounds around 265 Hz. These sounds are similar to what they usually hear in their hives. [5]
Thus, there’s a chance that bees like songs such as Billie Jean or Another One Bites the Dust.
How Do Bees Hear?
As mentioned, bees hear with their bodies. Specifically, they hear with their legs and antennae. Each of these contains sensory organs that detect vibrations. Bee legs have the subgenual organs while the antennae have the Johnson’s organ.
What Are Subgenual Organs?
Subgenual organs are sensory receptors found in the legs of bees. They’re located below the knee or at the tibia of each leg. They consist of scolopidia which contain mechanosensory neurons. These neurons are what pick up vibrations and other stimuli. [6]
Bees use the subgenual organs to detect substrate-borne vibrations. They pick up vibrations as sound and relay the information to the brain for processing.
What Is the Johnston’s Organ?
The Johnston’s organ is a sensory organ found in the antennae of insects. Specifically, it’s found in the pedicel, the 2nd segment of the antennae. Like subgenual organs, it consists of scolopidia, the unit mechanoreceptor in invertebrates. [7]
The Johnston’s organ is responsible for detecting vibrations in the air. These detected vibrations are converted into electrical signals that bees interpret as sounds.
Bees can distinguish different frequencies and patterns of vibrations. This allows them to react accordingly to different types of sounds.
Overall, the Johnston’s organ plays a crucial role in bee behavior. Bees use it for communication, navigation and to recognize their nestmates.
How Do Bees Use Sound Information?
Bees use sound to communicate. In fact, bees themselves, produce sound to convey information. For instance, honeybees create sound when they perform the waggle dance. They use these sounds to communicate critical information regarding food resources.
Honeybees also produce piping sounds to communicate with their nestmates. Nest-site scouts use such sounds to stimulate non-scouts for flight. [8]
Virgin queens also produce piping sounds when they’re about to emerge from their cells. In doing so, they recruit workers to chew on the cell so that they can emerge faster. They then use the same sound to assert their position to rival virgin queens. Through this sound, they find each other and engage in combat. They’ll keep producing this sound until there’s only 1 queen left.
Related Questions
How Sensitive Is Bee Hearing?
Bees can detect sounds in a frequency range from about 10 Hz to 500 Hz.
Do Bees Hear the Same Frequencies as Humans?
No, bees don’t hear the same frequencies as humans. Humans can detect sounds in a frequency range from about 20 Hz to 20 kHz. This far exceeds the frequencies that bees can hear. We can hear most of what bees can, but they don’t hear as much as us.
At the same time, bees can hear some lower frequencies which we can’t.
How Do Bees Communicate?
Bees are intelligent creatures. Apart from sound, they also communicate via touch and pheromones. For example, they use their antennae to touch and identify their nestmates.
Bees can also secrete pheromones to elicit different responses. They, for instance, release alarm pheromones when the hive is in danger. This prompts the bees in the colony to defend the hive.
Summary: Do Bees Have Ears?
To summarize, no bees don’t have ears. Despite that, they can still hear through their legs and antennae.
Their legs contain the subgenual organ which detects substrate-borne vibrations. On the other hand, their antennae contain the Johnston’s organ. This organ detects airborne vibrations and sounds.
