.N \ 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICU 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1328 
Washington, D. C. 
May, 1925 
THE FLIGHT ACTIVITIES OF THE HONEYBEE^ 
By A. E. LuNDiE, formerly Field Assistant, Bee Culture Laboratory, Bureau of 
Entomology 
CONTENTS 
Introduction 
The apparatus 
Problems on wbicli information 
may be obtained by a device for 
counting flights 
The conditions of the experiment- _ 
Factors introducing error in the 
count 
Page. 
1 
2 
Page. 
Factorsi influencing the flight 10 
The average dura tic 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 bees 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. 
^ 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 is indebted to the Carnegie 
Fnnd of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology, London, and to the Department of Agi-icul- 
ture. Union of South Africa, for financial assistance. He was regularly assisted in the 
taking of data by Miss Effie Ross and from time to time by other members of the Bee 
Culture staff. He also gladly acknowledges his indebtedness to Prof. F. Y. Edgewortli, 
All Souls College, Oxford, several of whose published articles have been found of value, 
and to Prof. H. H. Love, Cornell University, and Dr. G. W. Vinal, Bureau of Standards, 
for helpful suggestions. 
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