Bee Lore

What do bees have with do with drums?

In the case of the kundu (pictured below), which is a traditional drum from Melanesia, bees play an important role in the construction of the drum.

Here is a close-up picture of the head of the drum:

The head of the drum is made from lizard skin. Although this is unfortunate for the lizards, the skin is tough and durable.  It is held in place by the fibre ring that you can see surrounding the head of the drum.

Like all drums, the resonant frequency of the kundu is very important: it must sound just right to be in tune with other musicians that might want to play at the same time.  Most drums are tuned by adjusting the tightness of the drum head material with strings or clamps.  But with the kundu drum, they use something else.  If you have a look at the photo above,  you will find a clue.  And this is where the bees comes into the story:

The drum-makers usually make dark little globs which they put on the drum skin from an incredibly sticky beeswax obtained from the hives of the little bee above. There are also other materials that are used for tuning.  (In fact the globs on the kundu above are not beeswax at all. They are made from some gooey substance derived from breadfruit – but it makes for a good story about bees!)

By adding mass to the head of the drum, the resonant frequency is lowered. You can adjust it only downwards by adding mass, so you have to start out by stretching the skin very tightly to get a frequency higher than you want. Then you add the mass of the beeswax a little at a time until it is just right.  If the frequency is too low, the drummer holds the head of the drum near the flames of the fire to tighten the head and raise the frequency.

Which is one way that bees are connected to drums!
Main idea and pictures from: http://www.messersmith.name/wordpress/2008/10/drums-and-bees/