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35tli Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., AUG. 29, 1895. 



No. 35. 



Coj;)tributed /Vrticles^ 



On Imjiovtaiit A-piaTiaji Suhjeots, 



Possibility and Desirability of Breeding Out 

 the Swarming Habit in Bees. 



BY BEET LOWNES. 



On page 419, the question of whether it is possible or de- 

 sirable to breed out the swarming habit in bees is asked ; and 

 the answers, as given by the different bee-keepers, are such 

 that a novice, after reading them, would know about as much 

 (probably less) as {s)ha did before, notwithstanding the pro- 

 verb, that " In the multitude of counsellors there is safety." 

 While I have no especial desire to contradict any of the an- 

 swers given, still I cannot bring myself to believe that it is 

 either possible or desirable to breed out the swarming habit 

 in bees. In the first place, swarming, properly .speaking, is 

 not a habit ; that is, it has not been acquired by the bees them- 

 selves, but has been indelibly stamped upon their natures by 

 the Creator, who doeth all things well. A man may acquire. 

 the habit of swearing, and he may continue in the habit or not, 

 according to his own will, but the desire to swarm is one of 

 the strongest instincts the bee has — it has existed ever since 

 the bees were created, and I can truthfully say, will exist 

 until they become extinct. 



Habits, properly speaking, will grow and strengthen upon 

 those by whom they are practiced. If a man begins the use 

 of alcoholic drinks, he will gradually form a stronger appetite 

 for liquor, until at last he will have no power to break away 

 from the habit, should he desire to do so, and the same may 

 be said of swearing. Should a man begin the use of profane 

 language when circumstances are exceptionally trying, he will 

 soon find himself indulging in the habit on the least provoca- 

 tion, and in many cases with no provocation whatever. But 

 the habit (?) of swarming is no greater, no less, in the bees of 

 to-day than it was in the first colony that took up its abode in 

 the decayed trunk of a gigantic forest tree (?) in prehistoric 

 ages. 



Right here let me say in regard to breeding out (my of the 

 habits or instincts of the bees, that it is no easy matter. One 

 might suppose that a colony of bees, whose ancestors had for 

 hundreds of bee-generations occupied hives precisely alike, 

 would, on swarming, naturally seek another such an hive for 

 a home ; but not so. Let a swarm of bees issue, and unless 

 they receive attention in due time, they will start for the/orest 

 in search of a home. Of course, there are some exceptions, 

 especially in localities where large trees are scarce ; but even 

 in such oases I am led to believe that they go to the forest 

 first, but not being able to find a home to their liking, they 

 will enter a knot-hole in the side of a building, or an empty 



hive, as a second choice. If it is so hard to educate the bees 

 in this one point, how much more so would it be to produce a 

 race of bees that would, contrary to the laws of nature, have 

 no desire whatever to swarm ! Why don't the people that 

 profess to be so advanced in the bee-business, produce such a 

 strain of bees ? Simply because there is no possibility under 

 the sun of any .success whatever on this line. I mean on the 

 line of breeding out the swarming habit (?). You might just 

 as well try to breed out the desire to gather honey, and 

 with just as much prospect of success. 



While I believe that it is not possible or desirable to breed 

 out the desire of the bees to swarm, I do believe that it is both 

 possible and desirable to perfect a plan whereby the prevention 

 of swarms will be a practical success ; but even then I think 

 there would be a few exceptions, owing to the strong hold the 

 swarming instinct has on the bees. And I believe that right 

 here lies all the so-called success in the line of " breeding out 

 the swarming habit." 



From time to time we see it advertised or stated that Mr. 

 So-and-So has a strain of bees that are non-swarming, while 

 in reality Mr. So-and-So simply succeeded in preventing his 

 bees from swarming for a few generations. In my opinion 

 bees that have the swarming habit (?) bred out, could not be 

 induced to swarm under any circumstances. Point me to the 

 man that has a colony of such bees. I am confident that I 

 could take any of the so-called non-swarming bees, and after 

 transferring them to an 8-frame Langstroth hive, get them to 

 swarm in six weeks. 



Dr. C. C. Miller thinks that since it is not essential for the 

 existence of a colony, and as some bees are more given to 

 swarming than others, it would not be impossible to have bees 

 not given to swarming at all. Of course, some bees are more 

 given to swarming than others, because some queens are more 

 prolific than others. The Italians, as a rule, are more exces- 

 sive swarmers than the Germans ; and the Italian queens are 

 generally more prolific ; but are there any bees that are not 

 given to swarming at all ? 



As to its not being essential to the existence of the colony, 

 I do not believe that the bees are aware of the fact, and I 

 know of no means whereby we could convey such an impres- 

 sion to their little minds ; although I cannot agree with W. 

 G. Larrabee, when he says that " If the bees have no desire to 

 swarm or to increase, they would not build queen-cells," for 

 we all know that a queenless colony will build queen-cells 

 from larvEe of the right age, with no desire whatever of 

 swarming ; but I do believe that if the desire of swarming 

 should be entirely bred out, that no drones would be reared, 

 and without drones no increase would be had. I said "no 

 drones would be reared ;" but since all queens that are not 

 fertilized produce nothing hut drones, I will change it and say 

 that no drones would be reared intentionally. 



Now, •(/ no drones were reared intentionally (I do not say 



