THE FLIGHT ACTIVITIES OP THE HONEYBEE 13 



Table 1. — A seasonal surrey of some observations for entire days — Con. 



Date 



Total 

 exits 



Total 

 returns 



Loss 



Gain 



Per 



cent 



returns 



are of 



exits 



Loss or 



gain in 



weight 



of 



hive 



Aver- 

 age 

 load per 

 return- 

 ing 

 bee 



Per 1 

 cent of 

 possible 



sun- 

 shine 



Temperature in shade dur- 

 ing period of observations 



Minimum 



Maximum 



July 3... 



4... 



28, 918 

 3,206 

 16, 384 

 23,954 

 15, 267 

 19, 897 

 17, 619 

 22, 973 

 19, 509 

 17, 947 

 3,302 

 14, 976 



17, 935 

 13,284 

 14, 372 

 21,502 



8,956 

 20,916 



18, 376 

 23,881 

 17, 460 

 10, 079 



3,687 

 12, 003 

 8,683 



24, 074 

 2,506 

 14,404 

 22, 635 

 14, 737 



20, 003 

 17, 305 



21, 784 

 20,281 



17, 931 

 3,148 



16, 182 



18, 968 

 14, 808 

 14, 498 

 21, 828 



9,131 

 21, 535 

 19, 389 

 24, 974 

 18,006 

 10, 087 



3,963 

 13, 054 



8,861 



4,844 



700 



1,980 



1,319 



530 



314 

 1,189 



16 

 154 



106 



772 



1,206 



1,033 



1,524 



126 



326 



175 



619 



1,013 



1,093 



546 



8 



276 



1,051 



178 



83.25 

 78.17 

 87.92 

 94.49 

 96.53 



100. 53 

 98.22 

 94.82 



103. 96 

 99.91 

 95.34 



108. 05 

 105. 76 

 111.47 

 100. 88 



101. 52 

 101. 95 



102. 96 

 105. 51 



104. 58 

 103. 13 

 100. 08 

 107. 49 

 108. 76 

 102. 05 



Grams 

 -100 



Milli- 

 grams 



53 





 24 

 94 

 57 

 82 

 72 

 59 

 100 

 68 





 46 

 53 

 ' 71 

 58 

 35 



6 

 100 

 66 

 85 

 85 

 31 



3 

 49 

 80 



°C. 

 22 

 19 

 15 



13.5 

 20 

 20.5 

 21 



21.5 

 23.5 

 23 

 19.5 

 18 



19.5 

 20 

 20.5 

 21.5 

 20 

 15 

 21 

 19 

 22 

 20 

 19 

 20 

 15 



°F. 

 71.60 

 66.20 

 59 



56.30 

 68 



68.90 

 69.80 

 70.70 

 74.30 

 73.40 

 67.10 

 64.40 

 67.10 

 68 



68.90 

 70.70 

 68 

 59 



69.80 

 66.20 

 71.60 

 68 



66.20 

 68 

 59 



°C. 

 32.5 

 22 

 25 

 28 



31.5 

 31.5 

 29 

 .31 

 35 

 34 

 23 

 29 

 28 

 33 



34.25 

 31 



25.5 

 30 

 30 

 32 



32.25 

 29 

 24 

 28 

 29.5 



°F. 



90.50 



71.60 



5... 

 6— 



8... 



-410 

 -360 





77 



82.40 



88.70 



9... 

 10... 

 11... 

 12. . . 

 13... 



-150 



-180 



-80 



-320 





88.70 



84.20 



87.80 



95 



93.20 



14... 



15 



16... 



17... 



-170 



-220 



000 





73.40 

 84.20 

 82.40 

 91.40 



18... 







93.65 



19... 

 20... 

 21... 

 22... 



-340 

 -330 

 -340 





87.80 

 77.90 

 86 

 86 



23... 

 24... 

 25... 



-370 

 -240 





89.60 

 90.05 

 84.20 



26... 

 27... 

 29... 



-70 



-120 

 -250 





75.20 

 82.40 

 85.10 



Total.... 



2,434,666 



2,357,769 













































Throughout the honey flow and for the next five weeks after its 

 close, the total daily exits show a gradual falling off, until the sixth 

 week, when there is a rather sudden falling off from 40,000 to a num- 

 ber fairly constant for a period throughout July, during which the 

 total number of possible daily exits is about one-third of those 

 occurring on the best days in the honey flow in May. This indi- 

 cates that the emergence of young bees is not sufficient to replace the 

 high death rate following the honey flow, until the majority of 

 these old bees have died off. There is, of course, every gradation 

 in flight from the best days in the honey flow to other days on 

 which practically no flights take place. 



It is noticed that on heavily overcast days, with or without 

 occasional precipation, the low intensity of light seems to be the 

 strongest factor inducing the bees to stay at home. Days that are 

 bright and sunny, but ushered in by a low morning temperature, 

 show some remarkable differences in the totals for the day, amounting 

 in certain cases to as much as 40 to 50 per cent of the possible flight 

 for the period. For each day throughout the season that does not 

 come up to the optimum flight curve, some factor or group of 

 factors has been at play, modifying the flights to a less or greater 

 degree. Such data, however, do more than substantiate the Avell- 

 known facts concerning bee behavior indicated above, for they also 

 give a means of measuring the exact influence of any factor or group 

 of factors. 



