H-USN 



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However, oxxr hoAey be^e today probably respond in all things just as 

 they did ages ago. Man hasnU changed them a "bit by working with them. 



That, Mr. liambleton says, is because man has had no control over their 

 mating, as he has with other animals. 



Bees do a remarkable Job, but bee-keepers can see where improvements in 

 these children of the wild would be highly desirable. For instance, an im- 

 proved model bee might be one with a wider wing spread, and a more strongly 

 muscled thorax; one built to fly farther and carry heavier loads of pollen and 

 nectar at each trip. 



After the worker bee has passed through the various stages of its 

 apprenticeship at the various classes of work inside the hive, its life as a 

 field worker is only about four weeks. Longer-lived bees might prove an 

 advantage. 



Then every bee-keeper would like to get hold of bees more resistant to 

 the diseases which sometimes sweep through colonies and cause heavy losses. 



And, of course, there is the matter of disposition — most aJiy bee man 

 would like to see improvements in the disposition of bees. 



It is not that there are not differences between different races, and 

 colonies, and individuals, in all these respects. Por instance, some race? are 

 much easier to handle than others. Others are more aggressive. And it lias been 

 long noted ohat hybrids are more aggressive than either of the parent stocks. 



The trouble has been in getting the wild drones and the wild queen bees 

 to mate in captivity. Effort after effort to do selective breeding b; ontrol 

 of the wild nuptial flight has failed. 



I say , that has been the trouble. About three years ago, however, a bee 

 scientist, formerly employed by the United States Bee Culture Laboratory, dis- 

 covered a means for the artificial fertilization of queen bees. 



That discovery, Mr. Hambleton says, gives a key to the hitherto 

 puzzling problem of bee improvement. It may be many years before the experi- 

 ments with this new method reach a point where their results can be applied by 

 the average bee breeder. But at last, after untold centuries of work with 

 honey bees, there seems to be some prospect that we nay really domesticate 

 the wild honey bee. 



CLOSniG AITtTOUITCIMEITT; You have just heard a discussion of the untamed honey 



bee. This talk with Uncle Sam's Naturalists is presented by Station in 



cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. 



