466 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



In spite of this close association, which goes back untold centuries, 

 the honey bee has not acquiesced to man's influence in the same manner 

 as have the domestic animals of our present day. In truthfulness it 

 can be said that there are no domesticated honey bees. The life and 

 the habits of the honey bee are the same today as when man first dis- 

 covered that the product of these well-armed insects was worth risking 

 life and limb. The social life of the bee with its complex division of 

 labor and its various sexual forms have largely defied all effort to 

 change its nature better to adapt it to man's use. The free nature of 

 the bee and its insistence on mating in the wide open spaces have 

 been the chief stumbling blocks in efforts to improve or to domesticate 

 the honey bee. The sexual development and mating habits of bees are 

 different from those of domestic animals. As an illustration of this 

 difference, the male bees, the drones, are produced parthenogenetically ; 

 that is, the drone has no father but he can boast of a grandfather. 

 Unmated queens can lay eggs that produce male bees and, even 

 when they are mated, the mating has no effect on the male offspring. 



Following many attempts to control mating, it is now possible to 

 report that important progress in this direction is being made. Bee 

 scientists, through the use of anesthesia and delicate instruments, can 

 impregnate a virgin queen with the semen from a given drone. The 

 parentage of the resulting offspring is thus definitely known. Inas- 

 much as colonies or strains of bees vary widely in temperament, color, 

 ability to store honey, and to pollinate flowers, hardiness, and resist- 

 ance to disease, controlled mating and careful selection should result 

 in the development of superior bee stock. 



Research workers have delved into the early records of man and 

 written volumes on the antiquity of beekeeping ; but, since the intent 

 of this article is to acquaint readers with some facts of man's current 

 dependence on bees and how they are handled, it will be necessary to 

 leave the romantic past in favor of the equally romantic true story 

 of today. 



There is more to beekeeping than meets the eye. To the average 

 person it has to do with the production of honey and beeswax. Other 

 than those who have had actual experience in keeping bees, most per- 

 sons have little conception of how they can be handled and made to 

 work for their owners. There is little mystery about the production 

 of most of our common foods. There is no mystery about the source 

 of milk, butter, and eggs, and the production of fruits and vegetables 

 and their route to the ultimate consumer are matters of everyday 

 knowledge. On the other hand how can bees — wild, undomesticated 

 insects — be directed to produce honey and beeswax ? How are these 

 products taken from the bees? Is it necessary to put honey through 

 a manufacturing process before it is ready for consumption? 



