n8 BEES AND THE WEATHER 



the previous year, the winter supply has only been 

 just sufficient to go round. 



After the fruit trees have ceased blooming, 

 there is a period, sometimes running into six weeks, 

 when very little surplus honey is gathered. Not 

 till the white clover comes into bloom are colonies 

 able to store anything over and above daily needs, 

 so it is vital to the welfare of each hive that the 

 weather should be good when that insignificant 

 little flower is out. Wet weather not only 

 prevents the bees going out, but seems to wash 

 the honey out of the flowers. 



On the whole, I believe that warm weather, 

 providing it is accompanied by sunshine and 

 a somewhat humid atmosphere, is the most 

 favourable. The detailed investigations I made 

 in 191 1 rather negatived the idea that humidity 

 was favourable, but as showing how unwise it 

 is to draw conclusions from a limited set 

 of conditions, the following year proved a far 

 better one from the honey-storing point of view, 

 notwithstanding that the weather was not at all 

 settled. 191 1 was a very dry summer, remarkable 

 for the fact that very little dew fell, and the only 

 occasions when there was a high rate of humidity 

 were times when heavy rains fell. On the other 

 hand, in 191 2, although there was not so much 

 uninterrupted sunshine, the rains were not so 

 heavy, while the air contained more moisture 

 at all times. It is probable, indeed it is most 



