﻿18 



BtrLLETIN 1364, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE 



showed that the trees were not visited by bees. On May 29 spraying 

 was begun near the Langley apiary. Practically all the petals had 

 fallen and the bees had almost ceased visiting the trees. On May 30 

 the orchards nearest the Langley and Pshea apiaries were sprayed, 

 but no bees were observed in the trees. On May 31 spraying was gen- 

 eral in the neighborhood of all the bees under observation, and spray 

 mixture was applied thereafter for several days. 



Table 4. — Results ohtmned 'by weighing honeyhees at Fennville, Mich., 1916, to 

 determ/me effect mi them of spraying fruit trees at the customary time 



Colony No. 



Weight of adult bees (before sprajing) 

 on the dates specified 



Weight of adult bees (after spraying) 

 on the dates specified 



May 

 24 



May 

 25 



May 

 26 



May 

 27 



May 

 28 



May 

 29 1 



May 

 30 



May 

 31 



June 

 1 



June 

 2 



1 



Ounces 

 71.50 

 53.75 

 92.25 

 82.25 

 34.75 

 65.75 



Ounces 

 65.50 

 49.25 

 89.00 

 74.50 

 33.00 

 59.00 



Ounces 

 63.25 

 50.00 

 88.00 

 78.00 

 34.75 

 50.00 



Ounces 

 60.00 

 43.50 

 81.50 

 73.00 

 28.75 

 51.25 



Ounces 

 55.25 

 46.00 

 77.25 

 69.00 

 30.00 

 50.25 



Ounces 

 50.00 

 38.00 

 68.75 

 64.00 

 26.25 

 44.00 



Ounces 

 50.50 

 37.00 

 68.50 

 61.75 

 26.00 

 44.75 



Ounces 

 48.50 

 35.50 

 64.75 

 61.00 

 24.50 

 42.00 



Ounces 

 44.75 

 31.50 

 59.25 

 52.00 

 22.50 

 36.00 



L/unces 

 45.00 



2 _. 



31.00 



3 



58.25 



4.._ 



50.75 



5 ._ 



19.00 



6 _ 



34.75 







Total weight.. 

 Dally loss 



400. 25 



370. 25 

 30.00 



Gram 

 0. 0485 



.1232 



79 



62 

 Clear. 



Strong 

 SW. 



370. 00 

 .25 



Gram 

 0. 0529 



.1255 



85 



62 

 Clear. 



Calm 

 SW. 



338. 00 

 32.00 



Gram 

 0. 0369 



.1288 



73 



62 

 Part 

 cloudy. 

 Strong 



N. 



327. 75 

 10.25 



Gram 

 0. 0316 



.1225 



73 



51 

 Clear. 



Light 

 NW. 



291. 00 

 36.75 



Gram 

 0. 0250 



.1089 



74 



59 

 Rainy. 



Light 



SW. 



288. 50 

 2.50 



Gram 

 0. 0149 



.1271 



64 



53 

 Clear. 



Strong 



N. 



276. 25 

 12.25 



Gram 

 0. 0249 



.1197 



69 



45 

 Clear. 



Calm 



NW. 



246. 00 

 30.25 



Gram 

 0. 0209 



.1147 



74 



52 



Part 



cloudy. 



Strong 



S. 



238. 75 

 7.25 



Average daily load 

 per returning field 

 bee. 



Gram 

 0.0412 



.1210 



75 



55 



Part 



cloudy. 



Light 



W. 



Gram 



Average daily 

 weight per indi- 

 vidual bee in col- 

 ony No. 6 



.1074 



Maximum tempera- 

 ture 





Minimum tempera- 

 ture. ... 



62 



Character of day 



Character and direc- 

 tion of wind 



Clear. 



Light 

 SW. 



1 Spraying begun near the Langley apiary and continued for several days. 



On the basis of the number of dead bees counted in the bee traps 

 before spraying was begun, they died in hives Nos. 10 to 13 at the rate 

 of 13, and in hives Nos. 14 to IT at the rate of 12 per day, making 

 an average of about 13 ; after spraying was begun they died in hives 

 Nos. 10 to 13 at the rate of 8 and in hives Nos, 14 to 17 at the rate of 

 10 per day, an average of 9. Colonies Nos. 7 to 9 in the Langley 

 apiary have not been considered in computing these figures, because 

 both before and after the spraying was begun they did not behave 

 normally, being weak and badly diseased, and one was queenless. 



On May 24, 1916, the total weight of the bees in the six hives 

 weighed in the Langley apiary at Fennville was 400.25 ounces (Table 

 4). The daily loss in ounces from May 24 to June 2, inclusive, be- 

 ginning with May 25, was 30, 0.25, 32, 10.25, 36.75, 2.5, 12.25, 30.25, 

 and 7.25 ounces. The apparent heavy losses on May 25 and 27 and 

 June 1 occurred coincidentally with an interference in balancing the 

 scales when a strong wind was blowing. The weight of the bees in 

 the sample taken on May 29, when the weather was rainy, suggests 

 that the apparent heavy loss on this date may have been clue to the 

 lighter loads carried by the bees at the time they were weighed. 



