AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



233 



" body of bees, united and settled per- 

 manently in a hive," it contradicts not 

 only itself but other lexicographers, 

 and confounds the use and meaning of 

 terms. 



Worcester's Unabridged Dictionary 

 defines the word "swarm" as " a cluster 

 or great number of insects, or small 

 animals, particularly of bees migrating 

 from the hive.'" 



In fact, our word swarm comes from 

 the German word schwirren, and means 

 "to whiz; to buzz; a tumultous mass." 

 While the latter is applicable to a swarm, 

 it is totally inappropriate when applied 

 to an organized body of bees settled per- 

 manently in a hive, where order reigns ! 

 Tumult is disorder, noise and confusion— 

 the opposite of contented, peaceful work. 



X You must not be too fast, friend 

 Holden, in claiming the case. That 

 definition of colony — a number of animals 

 living together — sweeps away all your 

 props. The term " animal " does include 

 the hee, as well as man ; and hence is as 

 appropriate to an organized body of bees 

 living together, as an organized body of 

 men and women. It is quite correct, 

 proper, appropriate, precise, and fault- 

 less, to speak of either as a colony, when 

 they have migrated from the parent • 

 home, and settled down in an organized 

 body to keep house and work for the 

 general good. 



I It is unwarranted, and quite incor- 

 rect to claim that we must cite a "rule" 

 to prohibit Mr. Holden from calling such 

 a body of bees a "swarm." He might 

 as well deriiand such a " rule " to prevent 

 him from calling the only perfect female 

 in the hive — a Mnrj ! He could cite its 

 use by the brightest of the Roman poets 

 — and prove by books innumerable that 

 it is right I No "rule" prohibits it !" 



But there is no reason for prolonging 

 this good-natured controversy. Enough 

 has been said to convince "the intelli- 

 gent jury" of the correctness of our 

 position, and to our readers we leave the 

 verdict — remembering that "when one 

 is convinced against his will, he is of the 

 same opinion still." 



N^ew Varieties of Bees.— On 

 the subject of improving the honey-bee, 

 and the introduction and acclimatization 

 of desirable bee-forage plants, by the 

 Department of Agriculture, and the 

 work that the Department is* now plan- 

 ning, with the advice and assistance of 

 Prof. A. J. Cook, we find the following 

 in Insect Life, which will furnish encour- 

 agement and food for thought to every 

 intelligent bee-keeper in America: 



While little attention has so far been 

 given by the diffirent stations to the sub- 

 ject of apiculture (except at Lansing, 

 Mich.) it is nevertheless' an important 

 branch of economic entomology, and there 

 is much promise of good results yet to 

 come from careful experiment and 

 investigation. 



One of the most inviting fields, is the 

 search for and introduction of new vari- 

 eties and species of bees; for just as 

 American apiculture has profited in the 

 past by the importation of races like the 

 Italians, Syrians, and Carniolans, there is 

 every prospect of further improvement 

 by the study and introduction of such 

 prominent races as are either known to 

 occur or may be found in parts of Africa 

 and Asia. Apis dorsata is believed to 

 have many desirable qualities, and pri- 

 vate efforts have already been made to 

 introduce it, and have failed chiefly for 

 want of means. 



The further study of desirable bee- 

 forage plants, and the introduction and 

 acclimatization of such as are known to 

 be valuable to parts of the country where 

 they do not yet occur, are very desirable. 



Much has yet to be done, also, in the 

 line of syatematic breeding, and we 

 should be able to make rapid advances 

 in the amelioration of existing races by 

 proper selection, if we could assume prac- 

 tical and ready control of the fertiliza- 

 tion of the queen. 



In these directions we are now* plan- 

 ning, with Prof. Cook's aid, some effective 

 work, but the introduction of foreign 

 bees, which the Department should be 

 able to undertake to better advantage 

 than any private individual or State 

 institution, is rendered more difticult by 

 virtue of the restrictions of the appropi- 

 ation; and whatever is done in the other 

 directions by the National Department 

 will be done most advantageously through 

 the co-operation of one or more of the 

 State stations, many of which are far 

 better equipped, and more favorably 

 situated for apicultural work, than the 

 Department at Washington. 



