THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



15 



long time to fix any given trait) with 

 stock generally, as we can study in- 

 dividual specimens both of the sire 

 and dam, and can choose at all times 

 on both sides of parentage. With 

 our bees we cannot do this with cer- 

 tainty. It is true we have the con- 

 trol largely of our queens, but as yet, 

 in the choice of drones we cannot 

 make individual selections ; conse- 

 quently we have to choose wholly 

 from the queens. 



In choosing queens, equally as 

 much attention should be paid to her 

 drone as to her worker brood, and in 

 the selection of drone mothers we 

 should endeavor to choose those that 

 have proven themselves to possess 

 the greatest amount of best charac- 

 teristics. My opinion is that the 

 drone parent is more likely to govern 

 than the queen in fixing points ; for 

 that reason I should prefer to breed 

 in-and-in for many generations, than 

 to use the drone progeny of a queen 

 known to possess undesirable quali- 

 ties. If we could select individual 

 drones for fathers, the matter would 

 be quite simple. As it is we can 

 only select the drone progeny of a 

 given colony, running the chance of 

 the individual the queen will meet. 

 In answering this query we are tied 

 down to generalities, and cannot 

 give strict rules. 



In the matter of breeding out 

 crossness, we must first ascertain from 

 which side the crossness originates. 

 If from the queen, one plan may be 

 adopted ; if from the drone, another. 

 We must bear in mind all the time, 

 though, that a change of queens may 

 bring about the result of losing the 

 honey-gathering quality. It will be 

 impossible to lay down any rules in 

 the matter that the novice can apply, 

 or that any one in fact can apply with 

 certainty unless he is familiar with the 

 laws of breeding and cross-breeding, 

 and the results that follow therein. 

 It is safe to say, however, that the best 

 results can only be attained by using 

 equal care, judgment and discretion 



in the choice of sire as of dam ; and 

 that by intelligent selection of both, 

 as well as by judicious in-and-in breed- 

 ing we can create and fix such points 

 as we desire. 



WHY DO BEES SWARM ? 



QUESTIONS RY ONK INTEHESTED IN 



BEE-CULTUHK. 



Query No. 2. This question has 

 ofieii been a.sk(;cl but uot satisfactorily 

 explained. Perliaps at this enlightened 

 age some one of our "big" bee-nieu 

 may be able to throw more light upon 

 this point than has been done in the 

 past. 



The querist has known bees to swarm 

 when the flowers yielded barely sulB- 

 cient nectar to sustain the bees one day, 

 and this at the height of the honey 

 harvest; but the bees swarmed about 

 the same as they usually do when there 

 is a plentiful supply of forage for them 

 to gather. Then again, I have known 

 seasons when there was an abundance 

 of honey in the flowers and the bees 

 doing well, but few or no swarms is- 

 sued. How can this be accounted for? 



ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMAREE. 



It is not difficult for a man to work 

 himself up to that state of mind that 

 he will not be satisfied with well- 

 established facts, because he cannot 

 reason out every minutia connected 

 with it. 



This question has been answered 

 scores of times to my entire satis- 

 faction. Swarming is Nature's method 

 of multiplying and replenishing the 

 earth with bees. The impulse to 

 swarm is as natural in bees, as the 

 impulse to incubate or "set" is natu- 

 ral with' hens, birds, etc. 



Ought this not to be entirely satis- 

 factory? But then the querist has 

 seen bees "swarm" in and out of 

 season. So have the rest of us, and 

 if it were so, that we could not rea- 

 son out this irregularity of things, it 

 would not overthrow the fundamen- 

 tal principles governing the action of 

 bees as pertain to nature's plan of 

 multiplying the race. It is a well- 



