1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



663 



Coj;)tnbuted /V^icles^ 



On Imftortfint Apiarian Subjects. 



Non-Swarming Bees — Can the Swarming In- 

 stinct be Bred Out? 



BY A. NORTON. 



After reading the article by Mr. Bert Lownes, on page 

 549, it seems that he has certainly made a logical and con- 

 vincing argument. But, upon lool<ing at the matter further, 

 I still feel compelled to say, "Well, perhaps; possibly the 

 swarming impulse might be bred out, or lessened in a very 

 great degree." And yet, this is oue of the fundamental and 

 most important instincts of bee-nature. 



Darwin showed in his time that instinct is acquirable as 

 well as hereditary, and that traits primarily wanting in cer- 

 tain species have been gradually acquired and transmitted. 

 He applied this directly to certain animals and birds. 



Now, with reference to bees, the question why swarming, 

 or under what motives they swarm, which we often see dis- 

 cussed so gravely and absurdly in the papers, may be taken 

 as an axiom, or self-evident matter. They swarm because, in 

 a state of nature, they must do so in order to multiply ; and 

 swarming is an indispensable requisite to the perpetuation of 

 the species. As well might we ask, why do plants produce 

 flowers with stamens and pistils? Stameiis and pistils are 

 essential to the formation of seeds ; and with many or most 

 phsenerogamous plants, as the apple, grape, orange and 

 lemon, for example, the production of seed is, in a state of 

 nature, as necessary to the perpetuation of the species as 

 swarming is with bees. 



I remember reading, years ago, an article by an agricultu- 

 ral writer (it seems to me it was Horace Greeley) in which 

 strong ground was taken against the possibility of producing 

 seedless varieties of certain fruits. He argued that, if fertil- 

 ized, the seed must necessarily be perfected, and, if not fertil- 

 ized, the ovary and other seed envelopes couldn't thicken out, 

 for the reason that fertilization is necessary to the develop- 

 ment of these organs as well as of the seeds themselves. His 

 argument was logical, and he made out as good a case against 

 seedless fruit as Mr. Lownes has made against non-swarming 

 bees ; and yet, to-day, nearly, and, for all practical purposes, 

 wholly seedless oranges, lemons and raisins are accomplished 

 facts. 



Let us extend the question and ask, Why do hens sit? 

 Again the answer is axiomatic. They sit because, in a state 

 of nature and with the characteristics of fowls, incubation is 

 absolutely necessary to the perpetuation of the species. It is 

 more directly necessary than is swarming with bees ; because, 

 if bees were not subject to the depredations of various enemies 

 — as moths, bears, men, etc., or to the inroads of disease, 

 whereby the number of colonies might be lessened — they 

 could go on indeflnitely maintaining the numbers in the re- 

 spective colonies, and thus could preserve these intact without 

 even swarming at all. They simply would not increase. But 

 fowls would quickly die out if the hens did not sit. 



Hence, in a state of nature, as in the original jungle-fowl, 

 the sitting instinct in the hen is as powerful and as necessary 

 as the disposition to lay eggs, and there is no such thing as a 

 non-sitting hen. But man has eradicated this sitting instinct 

 in several breeds, as for instance the Houdans, Crevecoeurs, 

 Spanish, Leghorns, and Hamburghs. 



Under the artificial culture of man, swarming of bees, 

 seeding of fruits and sitting of hens are not respectively nec- 

 essary for propagation and increase. And it seems that with 

 these necessities removed, the possibilities of their natures ex- 

 pand within wider limits. 



Mr. Lownes says he does not believe that, if the desire for 

 swarming were entirely bred out, drones would be reared in- 

 tentionally, or, rather, he does believe that Jio drones would be 

 reared. This would not necessarily follow, at least not imme- 

 diately, although it might or might not. ultimately. 



In the seedless fruits, the plant develops stamens and pis- 

 tils (not normal ones, of course) as before, as well as thick- 

 fleshed ovaries, and the Houdan, Spanish, or other non-sitting 

 hen is Just as choice in selecting a nest and just as jealous of 

 an Intruding hen as is the Cochin which sits after every dozen 

 of eggs. 



According to a further extension of Mr. Lownes' reasoning 

 as to the intentional production of drones, we might expect that 

 when the incubating tendency had been bred out of a hen, she 

 would lay in any nest that might come handy, or would even 



drop her eggs wherever she might be, without seeking a nest 

 at all. Such features do not necessarily follow. 



Now, please bear in mind that I don't say the swarming 

 instinct has been bred out. I could not substantiate such an 

 assertion. I believe that to breed almost any traitor tendency 

 into a race, there must be more or less of it found there to be- 

 gin with ; and to breed it out there must be found some origi- 

 nal tendency toward a lack of it to begin with. As different 

 races of bees show difi'ering degrees of swarming instinct (and 

 I deny that this depends upon the proliflcness of the queen, as 

 claimed by Mr. Lowncr^) I am only arguing that it is within 

 the possible that non-swarming bees may yet be produced. 



Now for the reports of facts from those who have tried 

 any breeders' non-swarming strains. Remember, however, 

 how convincing an argument, the fact of there being no non- 

 sitting hens would have been in case of a hen argument be- 

 fore non-sitters had been produced. 



Montgomery, Calif. 



What Dr. Miller Thinks. 



Home-Made Foundation.— Hugh L. Lynn, on page 634, 

 speaks favorably of making his own foundation, but deplores 

 the mussiness of dipping the sheets. Perhaps he might try 

 one of the Rietsche presses so popular in Germany, which 

 requires no dipping of sheets, just pouring in the melted wax. 

 The A. I. Root Co. tried oue of them and discarded it as 

 worthless, but if Mr. Lynn should get their discarded machine 

 he might like it better. At any rate there are some seven or 

 eight thousand such presses in use across the water. 



Don't Decide Hastily. — On page 639, J. H. Tichenor 

 reports more than three times as much honey from a Lang- 

 stroth as from a square hive, and then says, " Now, if it isn't 

 the hives that make the difference, what is it?" I don't 

 know, and I don't know which hive is best, but I feel pretty 

 sure, Friend Tichenor, that you'll not find the same difference 

 kept up year after year. One of the perpetual puzzles is to 

 determine why it is that so often two colonies, standing side 

 by side, in the same hives, apparently the same in every 

 respect, should produce such different results. Of course 

 there must be a difference in the colonies, but it isn't always a 

 difference that can be delected. In your case, however, it is 

 not hard to account for at least part of the difference. The 

 hive that gave the big yield swarmed once ; the other twice. 

 With the issuing of that second swarm probably went the 

 prospect of many pounds of surplus. 



Abundant Ventilation. — There used to be a great deal 

 of discussion as to the kind of ventilation, upward or lower. 

 Little is said nowadays in that direction, but there seems a 

 strong current in favor of plenty of ventilation, however it 

 may be secured. In the essay of F. A. Gemmill, on page 630, 

 he advises upward ventilation with an entrance 4x%, but at 

 the same time speaks well of having no upward ventilation, 

 but " a generous — yes, even large — amount of lower ventila- 

 tion." Just what he means by "large " it may be diOicult to 

 say, but it's an unfortunate thing that so many are not more 

 specific in their utterances. Different readers will put differ- 

 ent interpretations on the word " large," and it will probably 

 be understood to mean an entrance of Sx% all the way to an 

 entrance of 24 square inches. Undoubtedly a smaller en- 

 trance is needed where the air passes up through the hive 

 than where all is closed above. 



In the discussion that followed, Mr. Pettit wanted the 

 hive raised so as to have plenty of circulation, and Mr. Hall to 

 get rid of moldy combs and dead bees. Substantially the 

 same, aren't they, for the change of air prevents mold and 

 death ? 



Those Suggestions as to the North American. — On 

 page 636 the editor does some planning for the next conven- 

 tion of the North American, and it might be worth while to 

 get suggestions from all quarters and to discuss them thor- 

 oughly. Now is just the time to commence such suggestions 

 and discussions. 



Whether it be wise to have a convention at the same time 

 and place as the meeting of the G. A. R. or not, one thing is 

 pretty certain, so long as our conventions are so small that 

 they of themselves can secure no reduced railroad rates, I be- 

 lieve it is the wise thing to have the convention in connection 

 with something that will give us low rates. 



On first thought, the idea of having a convention at the 

 same time as the G. A. R. didn't seem exactly the thing. Too 

 much of a jam. Something that would give us reduced rates 



