SEPTEMBER 15, 1916 



869 



NOTES FROM GERMANY 



Is a Non-swarming Strain of Bees Desirable ? 



BY J. A. HEBERLE^ B. S. 



Of late a number of articles have appear- 

 ed relative to the question of breeding up 

 by selection of a non-swarming' strain of 

 bees. Rev. F. Gerstung, one of the fore- 

 most beekeeijers in Germanj^', started the 

 discussion with an article in the Deutsche 

 Blevenzucht, of which he is the editor. The 

 following is a translation of the article, 

 abridged. The reader must bear in mind 

 that tlie writer had in mind only conditions 

 prevailing in Germany. 



Is the swarming impulse a quality or 

 property that is by heredity transmitted to 

 tlie offspring? Gerstung says it cannot be. 

 lie considers it impossible to breed up a 

 strain of non-swarming bees, and holds that 

 all endeavors in that direction will prove a 

 failure. 



He says, for argument's sake, let us sup- 

 pose we could eliminate the swarming im- 

 pulse — what would be the result? The 

 strongest impulse, the proj^agation of the 

 race, upon which the healthy development 

 and the continuation of the race depends, 

 would be weakened ; the bees would become 

 degenerate, and slowly, yet surely, would 

 go toward extinction. 



For comparison he writes, let us take the 

 same aim for a breeder of domestic animals 

 ■ — saj', for instance, tjie breeder of hogs in 

 order to get a race that would readily take 

 on fat, the impulse for proj^agation should 

 be eliminated. The absurdity is at once ob- 

 vious. But is not the elimination of the 

 swarming impulse the same? That the 

 propagation by non-swarming bees may be 

 effected artificially does not affect the case, 

 since after the elimination of the swarming 

 imjiuke, degeneracy remains. 



With bees the case differs in so fai- that 

 the supposed elimination of the swarming 

 impulse by select breeding is a delusion. 

 The swai'ming impulse or the lack of it is 

 not a quality or peculiar characteristic that 

 may by inheritance be transmitted to the 

 offspring. 



PROOF OF THE FOREGOING ASSERTION. 



Is the swarming impulse a quality of the 

 single bee — the queen or of the colony — 

 just as are size, color, or the sexual organs? 

 Surely not. It is generally known thai 

 good honey years are poor swarm years, 

 and vice versa. This means that swarming is 

 not a quality or fixed trait of tlie bees, but 

 a natural consequence of (he surrounding 

 weather and flora. In other words, the 

 same colony which .■showed no swarming 



impulse in 1911 may in 1912 swarm exees- 

 sivel}'. This is not a supposition, but a 

 fact. We (Gerstung) called attention to 

 this in the swarm year 1912, in whicli all 

 the colonies swarmed, including those that 

 had been bred as non-swarmers. 



Notwithstanding this convincing proof, 

 the teaching that the swarming impulse 

 could, hy select breeding, be eliminated, was 

 continued, tho it hacl been conclusively 

 proven that the surrounding conditions 

 stimulate or subdue the swarming impulse. 



WHAT STARTS OR STIMULATES SWARMING? 



A rich pollen pasture in spring with a 

 moist warm temi^erature causes a rapid ex- 

 pansion of the brood-nest. The queen 

 finally cannot increase the egg-laying any 

 further, and the young nurse-bees lack op- 

 portunity to dispose of their chyle (Futter- 

 saft) ; this causes a certain physiological 

 tension which leads the young bees by sui)- 

 plying working larva? with royal focd to 

 raise queens that may furnish more eggs — 

 i. e., young larvae to find use for the chyle 

 — to satisfy the bi'eeding instinct of the 

 bees. As soon as this development has 

 reached this stage the swarming impulse is 

 awakesed. If tliis height of development 

 under different and less favorable condi- 

 tions is not reached, the swarming impulse 

 is not developed — does not manifest itself. 



This may be proven by experiment. If, 

 at the height of the development, we re- 

 move the queen, the i^rocess which leads to 

 swarming is artificially started. The queen- 

 less bees rear for themselves queens. The 

 first queen that is hatched swarms out with 

 her followers. It follow\s that swarming is 

 the result of favorable conditions of weath- 

 er and pasture, but is not a quality or trait 

 of the bees or queens which might be trans- 

 mitted to offspring. 



Notwithstanding this, the swarming im- 

 pulse is treated exactly as the yellow liands 

 of the Italians or the ill temper of the Gyp- 

 rians. They (certain beekeepers) select 

 and operate with this imaginary quality as 

 if it Avere a trait that the offspring may in- 

 herit from the parent. They do this, altho 

 swarm years from lime to time show con- 

 clusively that they pursued a phantom. 



NON-SWARMING BEES; APPARENT SUCCESS. 



ITow is it that some beekeepers claim they 

 have been successful in breeding ;i non- 

 swarming strain? (xerstung believes that, 

 on account of too nuuh skill in rearing the 



