The Life.of the Bee 
further, the long sterile interregnum be- 
tween the date of the first swarm and the 
impregnation of the second queen, etc., 
etc. 
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 Pha- 
raoh to the peasant of our own day, the 
bee-keeper has always acted in opposition 
to the desires and advantages of the race. 
The most prosperous hives are those 
which throw only one swarm after the 
beginning of summer. They have ful- 
filled their maternal duties, assured the 
maintenance of the stock and the neces- 
sary renewal of queens; they have guar- 
anteed the future of the swarm, which, 
being precocious and ample in numbers, 
408 
