THE FLIGHT ACTIVITIES OF THE HONEYBEE 
17 
Time 
Weather conditions 
1.00 A few drops are falling. 
1.15 The sprinkling has ceased. 
1.30 Thundering, sky very dark, beginning to rain gently. 
1.45 Light rain falling. 
2.00 I> Mining heavily. 
2.30 The rain has stopped. 
4.30 The sky has cleared, but the sun is obstructed by some clouds. 
5.00 The sun is shining brightly. 
G.OO The sky is again clouded. [This condition persisted until dusk.] 
This was in a period of the year when, on account of the scarcity 
of nectar, a relatively larger percentage of the field bees are absent 
from the hive at any particular time. On the approach of a storm, 
therefore, their homeward rush produces a much higher peak, 
eco\ 
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55 
Fig. 5., — Flight, temperature, and hive-weight data for July 8, 1922, showing the 
effect of a storm (1.30-2.30 p. m.) on flights 
relative to the normal trend of the curve, than would occur if 
nectar were abundant. On this day on the approach of the storm 
in the quarter hour ending at 1 p. m., three times as many bees 
returned as in the highest quarter-hourly return preceding the 
storm. A slight flight from the hive was apparent even through the 
light rain : but when at 2 p. m. the heavy rain began, the exits were 
reduced to about a sixth of those in the morning when the sun was 
shining brightly. Though the sim again shone brightly between 
5 and 6 p. m.. and the temperature was high, this low flight activity 
still persisted, indicating that in some way the bees seemed to know 
that any further effort would not be profitable, a behavior differing 
markedly from that of May 15, when the response to good weather 
by increased flight was immediate. 
After such storms have cleared, it has been noted that a few of 
the returning bees show by the matted-down appearance of the hairs 
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