The Life of the Bee 



probably, that the race has grown feebler, 

 that the tendency to excessive swarming 

 has been hereditarily developed, and that 

 to-day almost all our bees, particularly 

 the black ones, swarm too often. For 

 some years now the new methods of 

 " movable " apiculture have gone some 

 way towards correcting this dangerous 

 habit ; and when we reflect how rapidly 

 artificial selection acts on most of our 

 domestic animals, such as oxen, dogs, 

 pigeons, sheep and horses, it is permissible 

 to believe that we shall before long have 

 a race of bees that vv^ill entirely renounce 

 natural swarming and devote all their ac- 

 tivity to the collection of honey and 

 pollen. 



[no] 



But for the other faults : might not an 

 intelligence that possessed a clearer con- 

 sciousness of the aim of common life 



410 



