72 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Colony or Swarm— 'Wliicli ? 



JNIr. E. L. Holden, of North Clarendon, 

 Vt., writes thus about the use of these 

 words to indicate bees settled down to 

 work in a hive : 



I have had something to do with bees 

 from early boyhood, and always heard 

 bees in hives called swarms, as well as 

 when coming out or swarming. 



As I am somewhat advanced in years 

 (born May 5, 1814), and continue to 

 call hives of bees swarms, I may be, 

 perhaps, called an "old fogy." 



As I never heard a good reason for 

 changing the name, I still call them 

 swarms, notwithstanding the majority 

 of bee-keepers call them colonies. 



In support of my practice, I refer to 

 Webster, the acknowledged standard for 

 definitions. He defines the word 

 "swarm " thus : 1. A large number of 

 small animals or insects, especially when 

 in motion. A deadly swarm of hornets. 

 2. Especially a great number of honey- 

 bees which emigrate from a hive at 

 once, and seek new lodgings under the 

 direction of a queen ; or a like body of 

 bees united and settled permanently in 

 a hive. 



The gist of the argument of our aged 

 friend is that Webster's Dictionary states 

 that a swarm is "a great number of 

 honey-bees which emigrate from a hive 

 at once, and seek new lodgings under 

 the direction of a queen ; a like tody of 

 bees united and settled permanently in 

 a hive." 



If the statement of the Dictionary, as 

 quoted in the last line, must settle the 

 matter, how about the sentence just 

 preceding it, viz. : that the bees "seek 

 new lodgings under the direction of a 

 queen !" Does that statement settle that 

 matter, too f Every well-informed bee- 

 keeper will dispute that assertion in the 

 Dictionary ! 



The queen is not a ruler in any sense 

 of the word. She is the mother — the 

 egg-layer — and is governed and con- 

 trolled at every step by the bees ! She 

 is always under the direction of "the 

 worker bees !" She does not lead the 

 swarm, but is generally the last to leave 

 the hive, and quite often has to be 



sought out and driven from the hive by 

 the bees ! ! 



If the statement in one part of the 

 sentence is so erroneous, wTiy should the 

 latter part of the same sentence be 

 infallible ?• Even Mr. Holden will con- 

 demn the former, while he desires to 

 defend the latter ! 



But our venerable correspondent 

 continues his argument thus : 



Now let us see how Webster defines 

 the word " colony." It is : 



1. A company of people transplanted 

 from their mother country to a remote 

 province or country, and remaining 

 subject to the jurisdiction of the parent 

 State, so long as they remain in depend- 

 ence on the mother country ; as " the 

 British colonies in America." 



2. The country planted or colonized — 

 a settlement. 



Now, in view of these definitions, I 

 feel justified in using the word swarm 

 to describe a mass of bees anywhere. 

 What objection can be made to its use ? 

 It is shorter and easier to write or speak 

 than colony. E. L. Holden, 



We are well aware that the word 

 " colony " is used in other senses, but its 

 fourth definition, as given in Webster's 

 Dictionary, is the only one applicable to 

 bees, and that Mr. Holden did not quote. 

 It is this : "A number of animals or 

 plants living or growing together." Bees 

 are animals [class, insecta] ; and a 

 number of bees living together may very 

 properly be called a colony. 



The use of the word "swarm" for 

 colony cannot be justified by any rule of 

 the language ! -A " swarm " issues from 

 a hive for the purpose of increasing the 

 families or colonies, but when it settles 

 down to the business of house-keeping it 

 is a colony, and not a swarm ! 



Because it was erroneously called a 

 " swarm " in " ye olden time," no more 

 proved its correctness or propriety, than 

 when the only perfect female in the hive 

 was called a king ! ! 



Formerly many erroneous terms were 

 used, but with our advancing intelli- 

 gence and scientific research, it would 

 be unpardonable to return to the dark- 

 ness and ignorance of the past, for our 



