The weather and its changes exert a marked influence on honey production.

That fact stands out clearly in the daily records of the weight of a hive of bees and of the accompanying weather conditions, kept for 29 years by J. L. Strong, a successful beekeeper of Clarinda, Page county, Iowa, and furnished for study to the Iowa Agricultural Experiment station.

The month of June, these records show, is preeminently the honey month of the year, with 56 percent of the entire production of the hive for the period to its credit. Moreover, the honey production in June is an index for the production for the entire year, which is large or small according as the June gain is relatively large or small. Rather abundant rain is favorable for large honey production and especially if the rainfall in May is rather heavy, altho excessive rain is likely to result in a poor honey year. South winds are apparently more favorable for good gains than winds from the other directions. The period of a rain is generally a time of depression in honey flow, and the clear days just preceding a rain show slightly greater increase than the days immediately following. Higher temperatures are accompanied by larger honey gains than lower, and a low barometer is favorable for good yields. A cold winter seems not to cut the yield of the succeeding session, but a cold March does.