The Progress of the Race 
between the date of the first swarm and the 
impregnation of the second queen, &c. 
Of these faults the gravest, the only one 
which in our climates is invariably fatal, is 
the repeated swarming. But here we must 
bear in mind that the natural selection of 
the domestic bee has for thousands of years 
been thwarted by man. From the Egyptian 
of the time of Pharaoh to the peasant of 
our own day, the bee-keeper has always 
acted in opposition to the desires and advan- 
tages of the race. The most prosperous 
hives are those which throw only one swarm 
after the beginning of summer. They have 
fulfilled their maternal duties, assured the 
maintenance of the stock and the necessary 
renewal of queens; they have guaranteed 
the future of the swarm, which, being pre- 
cocious and ample in numbers, has time to 
erect solid and well-stored dwellings before 
the arrival of autumn. If left to themselves, 
it is clear that these hives and their offshoots 
would have been the only ones to survive the 
rigours of winter, which would almost in- 
variably have destroyed the colonies ani- 
mated by different instincts; and the law of 
333 
