.Tantjaby, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



27 



THERE are 

 two angles 

 of ai)proach 

 to the subject of 

 apiculture. The 

 first is p u r e 1 y 

 academic. The 

 scientist stud i e s 

 tlie bee as he 



miglit study the vermes or extinct geo- 

 logic specimens; and the man who obtains 

 his doctor's degTee for profound histolog^ical 

 research might erstwhile be unable to pro- 

 duce a decent super of comb honey or get a 

 lone queen-cell accepted. 



The second angle of approach is practi- 

 cal. A man knows his job. He may not 

 be conversant with the veriest elements of 

 biology. He may never have looked thru 

 a microscope. But he knows when the tops 

 of his combs are beginning to be fringed 

 with whiteness it is time for supers. He 

 knows swarming plans. He knows 

 how to get queen-cells accepted. Scientific 

 talk is to him gratuitous jargon. He 

 achieves results — and that's all he is after. 



Now and then you find a rare man who is 

 big enough to embrace both points of view 

 — to reinforce practical apiculture with pro- 

 found scientific knowledge. Such a man, 

 for instance, is my esteemed namesake and 

 acquaintance, Dr. Pliillii3S, of Washing- 

 ton. 



While the majority of our successful bee- 

 keepers are not college men, it seems to me 

 the thoro conception of a few fundamental 

 biological laws might greatly expedite 

 their earnest efforts to achieve those finer 

 strains of stock for winch all bee-breeders 

 strive. At least, it would point out the 

 main paths of possible progress, and save 

 time wasted in following " blind alleys." 



SOMA PLASM vs. GERM PLASM. 



There are, so to speak, two kinds of mate- 

 rial that enter into the structure of an 

 organism. The first is " soma " or body 

 plasm. It is local and short-lived. It 

 begins with the individual. It ends with 

 the individual. Its inbeijitabihty 'is aU 

 most negligible. The fact that a black- 

 smith develops big muscle is (if that muscle 

 is acquired and not an inherent tendency) 

 no indication that his child will be robust. 

 The fact that a man loses an arm in a rail- 

 road accident is no forecast that his pro- 

 geny will be one-armed. In either case 

 the change is in the " soma " plasm. 



The second element is called " germ " 

 plasm. That is everlasting — carrying the 

 essential characteristics inherent in the in- 

 dividual down thru the long lines of he- 



Raising ^eens from the Best Honey 



Producing Colony Not Always the 



Best Policy in the End 



Geo. IV. Phillips 



FALLACIES in BREEDING ^^^^;^ 



ical vehicle for 

 the transmi.ssion 

 of life ; and any 

 essential chan g e 

 in the germ plasm 

 is at once grasped 

 ujDon by nature, 

 and, if it possesses survival value, becomes 

 a dominant factor in progressive evolution. 



ACQUIRED CHARACTERISTICS VS. VARIATION. 



Corresponding to soma and germ plasm 

 are the two well-known factors of organic 

 development: Acquired characteristics 



and congenital variation. The first applies 

 to those characteristics acquired dn the 

 life history of the individual. They indi- 

 cate changes in the soma plasm, and their 

 influence upon heredity is extremely slow — 

 some scientists say, not at all. At any rate, 

 for practical current beekeeping they are 

 negligible. How many ages did it take to 

 bronze the Indian or bleach the Caucausian ? 



The second element is congenital variation, 

 and| implies a change in the germ plasm 

 itself. This may be considered under two 

 asjDects : 



1. Gradual variation. No two peas in 

 the pod are exactly alike; no two queens. 

 These variations are probably due to the 

 several possible combinations of the male 

 and female elements in breeding, as well 

 as to the recurrence of far-off ancestral 

 traits. Some of these variations tend down- 

 ward ( reversion ) ; others tend upward 

 ( evolution ) . Right here is the queen- 

 breeder's chance. By carefully selecting 

 those queens whose colonies show desirable 

 qualifications he may greatly assist nature 

 in giving the desirable traits sui-vival value. 

 And this is the reason why some careful 

 breeders may produce gentle bees, hardy 

 bees, yellow bees, etc. In fact, it is my 

 opinion that by this method may be pro- 

 duced even a strain of bees immune to 

 certain diseases. It is well known that cer- 

 tain Arabian tribes, allho they drink walei' 

 infested with typhoid bacteria, are im- 

 mune to typhoid fever. Why? Because 

 those individuals who were susceptible 

 have died. Those remaining can't die. 

 Perhaps nature, unaided, would in time 

 weed out in like manner all bees suscep- 

 tible to European foul brood and leave a 

 race immune. But this end might be tre- 

 mendously hastened by the intelligent 

 apiarist. 



2. Mutation. This is sudden variation. 

 It implies a drastic modification of germ 

 plasm, and is immediately transmitted thru 



