People have speculated since before Huber’s time and as far as I know it has not been proven definitively, even though a few have claimed it has. Some think it’s the vibration of the wing muscles while using the comb for a resonator. Others think it’s some kind of expulsion of air from the body using the spiracles to make the noise. I’ve watched it many times and there is evidence to point both ways. The queen seems to crouch down and grip the comb tightly and also seems to expand and then contract the body suddenly which is how they usually breath.
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