OLFACTORY SENSE OF THE HONEY BEE 279 



normally in all respects by eating freely and by feeding and 

 cleaning one another. Some of them fanned and sometimes one 

 licked the protruding intestine of another bee. Some were very 

 weak and showed signs of dying at once. The length of life 

 after losing the stings varied from 1 hour to 6 days, with 30 

 hours as an average. Possibly in the hives a bee with its sting 

 removed may live somewhat longer and may continue its work 

 in a more or less normal way. 



EFFECTS OF WEATHER 



Climatic conditions perceptiby affect the activity of bees. 

 When it is extremely warm, they are most active and are rarely 

 quiet even for a few seconds. When it is moderately warm, 

 they are less restless, and when rather cool, bees do not move 

 freely. From 8 to 11 o'clock in the morning is the best time 

 for studying the responses of bees to various odors, because they 

 are then less active than during the middle of the day. From 

 4 o'clock until sundown is the second best period for studying 

 their responses. During cool weather their movements are 

 quite sluggish and when the humidity is high they are much 

 less active and respond to various odors more slowly than when 

 there is a low humidity. During damp weather they seem to 

 live longer in observation cases than when the humidity is low. 

 This may be because increased activity shortens its life. 



CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN OBSERVATION CASES 



In the observation cases bees apparently die from four causes, 

 as explained below: 



1. Old age is the most common cause of death. The greatest 

 precautions were taken in selecting what were considered to be 

 middle-aged bees, but even then many died in these cases within 

 only a few days although they ate well and were no more active 

 than usual. 



2. Doubtless many of these bees live a shorter time on account 

 of their extreme restlessness. Some of them were never quiet and 

 did not even take time to eat, while others ate occasionally. 



