The Flight Speed of Honeybees: a Quantitative Approach

SUMMARYForaging bees were trained to feeding stations 210 and 420 m. from their hive, and individually marked. Wind speeds were measured 7 m. from the ground; bees were regarded as flying with or against the wind according to whether the wind struck them at angles of 135–180° or 0–45° from the flight path. Winds at 45–90° were not considered; those at 90–135° were regarded as neutral winds.Wind affected speed of flight, but much less than if wind speed were simply superimposed on a constant air speed. Regression lines gave ground speeds of 7·5 and 6·5 m./sec. respectively for unloaded and loaded bees, the difference being significant (P<0·00l); in neutral winds these speeds were 7·8 and 7·0 m./sec. respectively. At wind speeds above 4 m./sec. bees flew just above the ground instead of at 7·8 m., and thus maintained a fairly constant ground speed. Bees foraging at 420 m. spent less time feeding, and more in the hive (average differences −16 sec., +20 sec.) than bees foraging at 210 m.