{"id":15134,"date":"2016-06-06T03:16:12","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T07:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/?page_id=15134"},"modified":"2019-03-01T13:33:26","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T18:33:26","slug":"background-honeybee-flight-activity-index","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/background-honeybee-flight-activity-index\/","title":{"rendered":"Background: Honeybee Flight Activity Index"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Honeybee <\/strong><em>(Apis mellifera)<\/em><strong>\u00a0Flight Activity Index and Mason Bee <\/strong><em>(Osmia cornuta) <\/em><strong>Flight Threshold Status<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The bee foraging estimates presented here are not designed to indicate a specific level of activity, but as a general guide to indicate hours when honeybees and mason bees are likely to be visiting flowering ground cover and crop plants. \u00a0Actual bee activity will vary with site-specific and date-specific factors such as flower density, nectar flow, recent weather, local honeybee, and mason bee population density.<\/p>\n<p>The chart serves to highlight hours to avoid spray application to prevent direct pesticide contact on honeybees and mason bees. \u00a0Spray application of materials hazardous to an area during hours when honeybees, mason bees, and other pollinator insects are actively visiting flowering ground cover or crop plants exposes the bees to harm from direct spray contact and fresh spray residue.<\/p>\n<p>Spraying outside of bee activity hours does not prevent all risk of harm. \u00a0Minimizing pesticide application, and selection for materials with the lowest impact when the application is needed, are necessary first principles. \u00a0Mowing to remove clover, dandelion and other attractive flowers of ground cover plants before spray application is another important tool.<\/p>\n<p>The minimum temperature for honeybee flight is 54\u00ba F. \u00a0The optimum temperature for flight activity is 72-77\u00ba F, but activity continues up to about 100\u00ba F before declining. Minimum flight temperature may increase by 4-7\u00ba F during late spring and summer, but this is not reflected in the activity index as it is based on field studies done in the early spring. \u00a0Using a lower minimum threshold provides a conservative buffer that overestimates, and\u00a0reduces the chance of\u00a0underestimating, honeybee activity when temperatures are in the 55-61\u00ba F range.<\/p>\n<p>There is an interaction between light level and temperature, such that the\u00a0temperature to begin foraging in the morning is higher at low light levels than at higher light level. \u00a0The threshold temperature to cease foraging in the afternoon as light declines are higher than the threshold temperature to begin foraging in the morning, but other factors such as nectar flow can also cause cessation of foraging. \u00a0The formula to estimate flight activity does not attempt to estimate cessation of foraging. \u00a0 As a result, the formula may overestimate honeybee activity in the afternoon when the falling temperature or nectar flow brings an end to foraging. \u00a0For the purpose of this chart, it is better to overestimate activity, and the need to avoid contacting honeybees with pesticide spray, than to underestimate the risk of bee exposure to pesticide spray.<\/p>\n<p>Even with favorable temperature and sunlight, rain and wind speed above 15 mph can cause honeybees to stop foraging. \u00a0Rain is not included in the flight activity estimates. \u00a0Mason bees can continue to forage during rain, but honeybees are less likely to do so. \u00a0The absence of rain is another potential source of a high bias in honeybee activity estimates. \u00a0Of course, rain often makes conditions unsuitable for spray application, so overestimating honeybee activity during rain hours is less likely to affect grower selection of spray timing because growers are less likely to spray while it is actively raining.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span style=\"color: #ff6600\">ORANGE AREA\u00a0<\/span><\/b><strong>= Honeybee foraging activity index for the hour ending at the marked time.<\/strong> This is a relative estimate based on flight response of the honeybee (<em>Apis mellifera<\/em>) to temperature and amount of sunlight, as estimated by a multiple regression formula based on data published in Burril and Dietz, 1981, and constrained by a minimum activity threshold derived from\u00a0Vicens and Bosch, 2000.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #ffcc00\">YELLOW AREA<\/span> = A presence\/absence indicator for <em>Osmia cornuta<\/em>, a mason bee<\/strong>. If temperature and light conditions have met minimum requirements for this species to be foraging, the value is 1. \u00a0If not, the value is 0.\n<ul>\n<li>These estimates do not represent activity by other important pollinators, including bumblebees that may forage at temperatures as low as 40F. \u00a0In addition, bumblebees may stay in the field overnight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b><span style=\"color: #3366ff\">BLUE LINE<\/span><\/b><strong> along the bottom of the chart indicates hours during which foliage is wet.<\/strong> If a spray material that can be harmful to honeybees as undried surface residue is applied during hours of wet foliage, the residue may not dry until foliage dries.\u00a0 The risk to bees could be increased if foraging activity overlaps a period of the undried residue of such material.\u00a0 For application to dry foliage, one hour of good drying conditions is often sufficient.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800080\"><b>PURPLE DASHED LINE<\/b><\/span> <strong>= wind speed<\/strong>, which ends honeybee foraging at 15 mph, and is also included to help identify low wind periods for good coverage and drift control that overlaps with periods of low honeybee activity.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #339966\">VERTICAL GREEN LINE<\/span> = today&#8217;s date<\/strong> and the beginning of forecast values.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Model Logic Sources and Notes<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Burrill, R, M, and A. Dietz. \u00a01981, \u00a0The Response Of Honey Bees To Variations In Solar Radiation And Temperature.\u00a0\u00a0Apidologie, Springer Verlag, 12(4), pp.319-328. &lt;hal-00890551&gt;<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Source of data for regression formula to estimate honeybee activity index above minimum flight temperature and light thresholds.<\/li>\n<li>\u201c\u2026 honey bees will not fly if there is no light regardless of temperature.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Above threshold levels one factor, the temperature is only predictive when the other factor, radiation intensity, is considered and vice versa. Under the circumstances, activity responses to temperature appear to be approximately linear.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Vicens, N. and J. Bosch.\u00a02000.\u00a0Weather-dependant pollinator activity in an apple orchard, with special reference to Osmia cornuta and Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae and Apidae).\u00a0<em>Environ. Entomol <\/em>29:413\u2013420.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Source of honeybee and mason bee minimum temperature thresholds based on light level.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;On all five days on which video recordings were taken, O. cornuta was fully active for longer periods (range: 3 hours, 20 minutes \u2013 9 hours, 50 minutes; sum: 33 hours, 40 minutes) than A. mellifera (range: 0 minutes -5 hours, 30 minutes; sum: 15 hours, 10 minutes) \u00a0Both activity initiation and termination occurred at lower temperature and solar radiation in<em> O. cornuta<\/em> than in <em>A. mellifera<\/em>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Both activity initiation and termination occurred at lower temperature and solar radiation in O. cornuta &#8230;\u00a0than in A. mellifera &#8220;<\/li>\n<li>Bee counts on the trees and the activity counts at the <em>O. cornuta<\/em> and <em>A. mellifera<\/em> nesting sites in relation to ambient temperature and solar radiation &#8220;&#8230;\u00a0establish the approximate temperature-radiation thresholds for the two species. The lowest temperature at which <em>O. cornuta<\/em> activity was registered was 9.8\u00ba C, with a solar radiation of 225 w\/m2. At higher temperatures, this species was active at lower radiations (e.g., 69 w\/m2 at 10.5\u00ba C or 34 w\/m2 at 16.0\u00ba C). \u00a0<em>A. mellifera<\/em> had a similar response but at higher thresholds (12.2\u00ba C &#8211; 329 w\/m2, 13.2C 233 w\/m2, 15.8\u00ba C &#8211; 151 w\/m2).<\/li>\n<li>Temperature and radiation thresholds for <em>A. mellifera<\/em> found in this study are similar to those reported elsewhere (Burrill and Dietz 1981, Kevan and Baker 1983, Winston 1987, Free 1993). \u00a0<em>A. mellifera<\/em> is fully active at temperatures higher than 12-14\u00ba C and solar radiation higher than 300 w\/m2, being particularly sensitive to drops in solar radiation below this limit. Moderate wind, even at favorable temperatures and light intensity may also cause activity to cease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">[*** Editor note: The honeybee activity formula used for this chart sets value to 0 if wind speed is &gt; 15 mph]<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;<em>A. mellifera<\/em> is an endothermic species, able to warm up through shivering of the flight muscles, and attain thoracic temperatures 15C above ambient temperature (Heinrich 1979). However, because it requires a high thoracic temperature to fly, it cannot make uninterrupted flights at ambient temperatures lower than 12-15\u00ba C (Heinrich 1979, 1993).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">[*** Editor note: The honeybee activity formula sets the minimum flight temperature no higher than 15.5\u00ba C (60\u00ba F) as long as light level is &gt;0. \u00a0The data from\u00a0Vicens and Bosch (2000) indicate that it would be more realistic to require temperatures above 60\u00ba F at very low light levels that can occur in the first hours after sunrise on cloudy days, but Burril and Dietz, using different methods, did observe honeybee departures from observation hives at very low light levels. \u00a0In order to reduce the chance of underestimating honeybee foraging at low light levels, the temperature requirement was set to never exceed 60F (15.5\u00ba C).<\/p>\n<p>The minimum temperature for flight is no lower than 12.2\u00ba C (54\u00ba F) once light level exceeds that which occurs after 8:00 a.m. in May &#8211; July except on very overcast days. \u00a0During late spring and summer, the true flight temperature threshold in May through summer at this light level may be higher than 12.2\u00ba C, but is constrained to reduce the chance of underestimating honeybee activity.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple sources concur with these limits. Because the formula constrains the minimum flight temperature requirements in the direction of overestimating honeybee activity, estimates may be unrealistically\u00a0high, especially late in the day. \u00a0But it is better to overestimate bee activity in order to over-protect honeybees, rather than the alternative. \u00a0In addition, afternoon hours are often unacceptable for spray applications due to the wind, drift potential and other concerns, in which case an overestimate of honeybee activity would not result in a different grower decision about suitable spray timing.<\/p>\n<p>For the mason bee <em>Osmia cornuta<\/em>, the minimum flight temperature with low light is constrained to be no higher than 60\u00ba F. With &#8220;high&#8221; light (i.e. after 8:00 a.m. during May-August except on very cloudy days) the forage temperature threshold is set at 49.6\u00ba F,]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Back to Vicens and Bosch excerpts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>(During fruit tree bloom)\u2026&#8221;Even on days with good weather, the foraging activity of most insects is low or nonexistent in the early morning and late afternoon, limiting further the time available for pollination.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The estimated numbers of nesting <em>O. cornuta<\/em> females necessary to pollinate 1 hectare (=2.5 acres) is &#8221; \u00a0 \u2026 &#8221; 530 for apples (Vicens and Bosch 2000), in contrast to 2&#8211;7 colonies of <em>A. mellifera<\/em>, with thousands of foragers per colony (McGregor 1976, Free 1993). \u00a0These differences between the two bee species in numbers of individuals required are the result of the higher pollinating efficacy of <em>O. cornuta<\/em> on fruit tree flowers (Bosch and Blas 1994, Monzon 1998, Vicens and Bosch 2000), its strong preference to visit fruit trees (Marquez et al. 1994), and its capacity to forage for longer periods, both daily and seasonally (this study). Because of its greater tolerance to cool, overcast weather, O. cornuta\u2019s beneficial effects as an orchard pollinator will be comparatively greater on years with inclement conditions during flowering.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The abundance of Diptera [flies accounted for about 10-40% of flying insect found on apple flowers in this study] does not reflect their pollinating efficacy. Our observations are consistent with the long-recognized low pollinating contribution.\u00a0 The apparent greater activity of Muscoid \u00dfies during the daylight hours with the lowest temperature and solar radiation is the result of their habit of spending the night on the flowers.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Of the two managed bee species, the activity of <em>A. mellifera<\/em> was more dependent on climatic factors than that of <em>O. cornuta<\/em>.\u00a0<em> O. cornuta<\/em> tended to be distributed uniformly on the flowers throughout the day and were active on days when other pollinators were scarce or absent. The establishment of precise activity thresholds is difficult because responses depend on a combination of factors that include not only weather variables but also the physiological and behavioral state of the insect, as well as floral resource availability (Stone 1994).\u00a0 Thus, activity thresholds vary, not only among individuals but also throughout the day and the nesting season. &#8220;<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">[*** Editor note: Minimum temperature thresholds for honeybee flight appear to be lowest in spring. \u00a0Both the Vicens and Bosch (2000), and Burril and Dietz (1981) studies were done during apple bloom. \u00a0Minimum flight thresholds and estimate of flight activity based on data from these studies are more likely to set lower thresholds than what actually apply during late spring and summer. \u00a0Thus, activity estimates during marginal conditions are biased high. \u00a0As noted above, it is better to over- than under-estimate activity for purposes of this chart.]<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Both in <em>O. cornuta<\/em> and <em>A. mellifera<\/em>, as well as in <em>Megachile rotundata<\/em> (Szabo and Smith, 1972), there is an inverse correlation between temperature and solar radiation during daily activity initiation, so that females start foraging at lower temperatures on days with clear skies. When conditions are particularly unfavorable, however, bees will wait until both weather factors rise above \u201cnormal\u201d levels.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;&#8230; nectar availability might have affected the termination of foraging activity in this study, notwithstanding the significant influence of weather factors found for both species.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">[*** Editor note: The estimates in this chart essentially do not include forage activity termination thresholds, thus late afternoon and early evening values are likely to be biased high.]<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;As a rule, under moderate wind and relative ambient humidity of &lt;95%, <em>O. cornuta<\/em> is fully active from 10 to 28\u00ba C (see also Maddocks and Paulus, 1987, Bosch, 1994) and 200 w\/m2. \u00a0Some females even forage under light rain or strong wind. \u00a0<em>O. cornuta<\/em> is a relatively large Osmia with abundant pilosity and dark coloration on the head and thorax (completely black in females), and these traits are commonly associated with bees able to fly at low temperatures (Heinrich 1993, Stone 1994).&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">[*** Editor note: This study only included one Osmia species.\u00a0 The authors note that another Osmia species that has been studied in more detail, <em>Osmia rufa<\/em>, \u00a0has more stringent environmental requirements for flight than <em>O. cornuta<\/em>, and that where they coexist <em>O. cornuta<\/em> begins flying at lower temperatures. They also comment that flight temperature requirements in bee species tend to be similar with other species in the same family.\u00a0 While by no means definitive, these observations lend credence to the idea that the temperature and light thresholds for <em>Osmia cornuta<\/em> may be useful as a protective estimate for other species in the same family, i.e. for other species of mason bees.]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thorp, R.W. 1996. Bee management for pollination, p. 132\u2013138. In: W.C. Micke (ed.). Almond production manual. University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Publication 3364.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Bee flight activity is governed by the abiotic environment. Honeybees forage when temperatures are 55\u00b0 F (12.8\u00b0 C) and higher; they do not forage in rain or in wind stronger than 15 miles (24.1 km) per hour. \u00a0Cloudiness can also reduce flight activity, especially when it occurs near threshold temperatures.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Boyle-Makowski, R. M. D. 1987. The importance of native pollinators in cultivated orchards: their abundance and activities in relation to weather conditions. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Ont 118:125\u2013141<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;The importance, efficiency, and activity of native and domestic insect pollinators were studied for three consecutive years, during the blossom period in a semi-dwarf apple orchard of the Niagara Peninsula [Canada]. Insect numbers and activity were correlated with apple cultivar (Empire, MacIntosh, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious] located on the east and west slopes of the orchard, and with temperature, humidity, and light intensity fluctuations.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The physical factors, especially temperature, were mainly responsible for the variation in the numbers of honeybees.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>[Andrenids &#8211; solitary, ground-nesting &#8220;mining bees&#8221; ] \u00a0 &#8221; &#8230; the range of activity is slightly narrower than that of the honeybees but their numbers do not fluctuate with changing weather conditions. \u00a0The Diptera although numerically ranked second in importance in 1978 and 1979 were less effective than the Hymenoptera as they carried little pollen on their bodies.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;&#8230; native pollinators become important in pollination during blossom seasons with adverse weather conditions, these insects compensated for the reduced activity of the honeybees, an observation that has been underestimated in orchard management.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Kevan, P. G., and H. G. Baker. 1983. Insects as \u00dfower visitors and pollinators. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 28: 407\u00d0 453.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Temperature effects are often closely related to light effects, especially in basking insects.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Honey bees cease foraging when wind speeds exceed 24-34 kph&#8221; (15-21 mph)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The lowest temperature at which flight actively commenced in honeybees is about 10\u00b0C, but in spring flight usually begins at 12-14\u00b0 C, in May at 14&#8211;16\u00b0 C, and in summer, the main foraging period, at 16-18\u00b0 C. A decrease of flight activity in the evening starts at slightly higher temperatures. Foraging increases with temperature up to approximately 38\u00b0 C, but this figure may be low, and under some circumstances foraging may continue up to temperatures of 42\u00b0 C or 48\u00b0 C.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Wafa, A. K.\u00a01955. \u00a0Temperature\u00a0as a factor controlling the commencement of honeybees flighting and\u00a0honeybee flight\u00a0activity distribution during the various months of the year. (Hymenoptera: Apidae). \u00a0Bull. Soc. Ent. Egypte \u00a039:315-334.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;High significant positive correlations were found between the minimum temperature of the environment and the temperature at which the bees flew. The bees usually ceased to fly after the outside temperature had reached its maximum for the day, and they occasionally remained in the field after the temperature had begun to fall. The extent to which this happened differed markedly at different times of the year and was dependent upon the influence exerted by other factors of the environment.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Abrol, D. P. \u00a02006. \u00a0Diversity of pollinating insects visiting litchi flowers (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) and path analysis of environmental factors influencing foraging behavior of four\u00a0honeybee\u00a0species. \u00a0Journal of Apicultural Research. \u00a045( 4): 180-187.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;In general, 15.5-18.5 degrees C temperature, 600-1700 Ix light intensity, and 9-20 mW\/cm(2) solar radiation appeared to be the minimum ecological conditions for the commencement of flight activity in Apis species. \u00a0Cessation of activities in all the honeybee species was controlled mainly by the decline in values of light intensity and solar radiation irrespective of other factors.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Corbet, S.A., \u00a0N. M. Saville, M. Fussell, O. E. Pr\u0177s-Jones and \u00a0D. M. Unwin. \u00a01995. \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/2404810?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Competition Box: A Graphical Aid to Forecasting Pollinator Performance<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(JSTOR website).<strong> \u00a0 \u00a0Journal of Applied Ecology 32(4), pp. 707-719.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Thermal constraints on flight activity limit the pollinating effectiveness of bees. Each species of social bee has a microclimatic &#8216;window&#8217; within which foraging fight can be sustained. To predict whether a given species of social bee is worth testing as a pollinator in a given climate, it is useful to know at least the lower limits of that microclimatic &#8216;window&#8217;. We consider how information from a series of bee counts through a day can be used to characterize a bee species in terms of activity\/microclimate relations as a basis for predicting the diel pattern of foraging activity&#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;We use examples of field data to explore the relationship between microclimate and activity for the honeybee Apis mellifera and several species of bumblebee, Bombus. Regression analysis is used to relate activity to T-g [T-g = black globe temperature = temperature measured inside a black sphere to include the effect of solar radiation on a body] \u00a0and to identify the lower temperature threshold for activity from field bee counts. In field analysed here, the bumblebees Bombus terrestris\/lucorum, B. pascuorum and B. hortorum began foraging at lower temperatures than honey-bees or B. lapidarius.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">[*** Editor note:\u00a0Lower black globe temperature threshold for foraging was stated as 11\u00ba C (52\u00ba F) for honeybees, and 6\u00ba C (43\u00ba F) for <em>Bombus<\/em> (bumblebee) species.]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Benedek, P. \u00a01976. \u00a0Effect Of Environmental Factors On The\u00a0Foraging\u00a0Rates Of Honey Bees In Red Clover Fields.\u00a0\u00a0Zeitschrift Fuer Angewandte Entomologie 1(1):\u00a014-20.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Foraging rates of honeybees were definitely influenced by several environmental factors. The impact of air temperature proved to be the most important of the weather conditions.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Sky cover had slight reversed effects while light wind (below 4.5 m\/s) [Ed. \u00a0= 10 mph] and flight distance within 600 m did not affect the foraging rates of honeybees on red clover inflorescences. \u00a0Strong wind decreased the speed of flower visits or prevented it.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;&#8230; the foraging rates of honeybees are always affected by a complex system of factors, individual components of which can partly interfere with or support each other .&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Ram\u00edrez, F., and T. L. Davenport. \u00a02013. \u00a0Apple pollination: A review. Scientia Horticulturae.\u00a0 162: 188\u2013203.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Honeybees remain near hives during overcast and rainy days. Their flight speed is 22 Km\/h, thus, higher wind velocities affect their flight (Mayer et al., 1985).&#8221; \u00a0 (22 km\/h = 14 mph)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Kumar, N. and R, Singh. \u00a02005. \u00a0Relative abundance of Apis spp. on rabi season sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) \u00a0Journal of Entomological Research (New Delhi) \u00a029(1): \u00a065-69.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;The standard regression coefficients revealed that temperature played main role in fluctuating the population of Apis spp.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Szabo, T. I. 1980. \u00a0 Effect Of Weather Factors On Honey Bee Apis-Mellifera Flight Activity And Colony Weight Gain. \u00a0Journal of Apicultural Research \u00a019(3): 164-171. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Multiple correlation coefficients of humidity, temperature, wind speed and light intensity with flight activity ranged from + 0.701 to + 0.978, all highly significant.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Nunez, J. \u00a01977. \u00a0Circadian Variation Of Flight\u00a0Activity\u00a0In Colonies Of\u00a0Apis-Mellifera-Ligustica. \u00a0Journal Of Insect Physiology. \u00a023(3): 397-392\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Daily flight activity is confined to the warm hours when the temperature is higher than a certain threshold. Flight activity shows two intensity maxima: one in the morning correlated with an increased nectar flow in the hive and another in the afternoon between 15 and 16 h (solar time) not correlated with nectar flow (correlated with photoperiod).&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Honeybee (Apis mellifera)\u00a0Flight Activity Index and Mason Bee (Osmia cornuta) Flight Threshold Status The bee foraging estimates presented here are not designed to indicate a specific level of activity, but as a general guide to indicate hours when honeybees and mason bees are likely to be visiting flowering ground cover and crop plants. \u00a0Actual bee [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":47,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15134","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Background: Honeybee Flight Activity Index - Cooperative Extension: Insect Pests, Ticks and Plant Diseases - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/background-honeybee-flight-activity-index\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Background: Honeybee Flight Activity Index - Cooperative Extension: Insect Pests, Ticks and Plant Diseases - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Honeybee (Apis mellifera)\u00a0Flight Activity Index and Mason Bee (Osmia cornuta) Flight Threshold Status The bee foraging estimates presented here are not designed to indicate a specific level of activity, but as a general guide to indicate hours when honeybees and mason bees are likely to be visiting flowering ground cover and crop plants. \u00a0Actual bee [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/background-honeybee-flight-activity-index\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cooperative Extension: Insect Pests, Ticks and Plant Diseases\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-01T18:33:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"17 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/background-honeybee-flight-activity-index\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/background-honeybee-flight-activity-index\/\",\"name\":\"Background: Honeybee Flight Activity Index - Cooperative Extension: Insect Pests, Ticks and Plant Diseases - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-06T07:16:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-01T18:33:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/background-honeybee-flight-activity-index\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/background-honeybee-flight-activity-index\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/background-honeybee-flight-activity-index\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Background: Honeybee Flight Activity Index\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/\",\"name\":\"Cooperative Extension: Insect Pests, Ticks and Plant Diseases\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. 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