UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1328 



Wasbinglon, D. C. ▼ May, 1925 



THE FLIGHT ACTIVITIES OF THE HONEYBEE 1 



By A. E. Ltjndie, formerly Field Assistant, Bee Culture Laboratory, Bureau of 



Entomology 



CONTENTS 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



The apparatus 2 



Problems on which, information 

 may be obtained by a device for 



counting flights 6 



The conditions of the experiment— 7 

 Factors introducing error in the 



count 8 



Page. 



Factors) influencing the flight 10 



The average duration of trips. 26 



A limit to the number of trips and 



the time spent within the hive 32 



The death rate of the colony 33 



The behavior of the beesi to the 



instruments 34 



Conclusions 35 



INTRODUCTION 



Although the flight of honeybees to and from the hive has attracted 

 the attention of students of beekeeping from the earliest times, no 

 detailed study has been made, so far as can be determined from the 

 beekeeping literature, of the actual number of flights from a colony 

 of bees or of the variations which occur in these flights with changes 

 in external environmental factors. Obviously it is extremely diffi- 

 cult to obtain even a small number of accurate records by counts 

 made at the entrance of the hive. Therefore, to obtain adequate 

 scientific data for a thorough study of the problems pertaining to 

 the flight of bees it is essential to have some mechanical means which 

 will automatically register the exits and returns of the bees over 

 long periods of time. 



1 This paper was prepared in part fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of 

 doctor of philosophy at Cornell University. While engaged in. this work the author held 

 a Government overseas scholarship from the Department of Agriculture of the Union of 

 South Africa. The work was done in cooperation with the Bee Culture Laboratory of 

 the Bureau of Entomology, at Somerset, Md. The writer isi indebted to the Carnegie 

 Fund of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology, London, and to the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Union of South Africa, for financial assistance. He was regularly assisted in the 

 taking of data by Mist) Effie Ross and from time to. time by other members of the Bee 

 Culture staff. II<t also gladly acknowledges his indebtedness, to Prof. F. Y. Edgeworth, 

 All Soulfl College, Oxford, several of whose published articles have been found of value, 

 and to Prat. II. IF. Love* Cornell University, and Dr. G. W. Vinal, Bureau of Standards, 

 for helpful suggestions. 



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