The Life of the Bee 
probably, that the race has grown feebler, 
that the tendency to excessive swarming 
has been hereditarily developed, and that 
to-day almost all our bees, particularly 
the black ones, swarm too often. For 
some years now the new methods of 
“movable” apiculture have gone some 
way towards correcting this dangerous 
habit ; and when we reflect how. rapidly 
artificial selection acts on most of our 
domestic animals, such as oxen, dogs, 
pigeons, sheep and horses, it is permissible 
to believe that we shall before long have 
a race of bees that will entirely renounce 
natural swarming and devote all their ac- 
tivity to the collection of honey and 
pollen. 
[ 110 ] 
But for the other faults: might not an 
intelligence that possessed a clearer con- 
sciousness of the aim of common life 
410 
