66 BEEKEEPING 



we have been able to do only a trifle to 

 counteract this instinct for it is one of the 

 strongest forces in existence not only 

 among the bees but in all other animals 

 and plant life. To nature, the reproduc- 

 tion of the species, the continuance of the 

 race is the only thing that matters. It is 

 her one big question and she always an- 

 swers it in her own way. Therefore when 

 a colony throws off a swarm it is revert- 

 ing to its wild state and unless the bee- 

 keeper is present to catch the swarm when 

 it issues from the hive it will in all prob- 

 ability wander off and take up its abode 

 in some hollow tree, perhaps miles away 

 from the parent colony. 



It is in this way that we happen to have 

 "wild bees" in our woods. They are in 

 every case bees that originally escaped 

 from some beekeeper. Or we might 

 argue that all bees are really wild and 

 that our efforts at domesticating them 

 have been more or less of a failure since 

 they return to their natural condition at 



