A SOCIAL INSECT— THE HONEYBEE 



235 



will leave the hive and begin flying up in the air. Drones from this 

 and other hives follow her. The strong-flying queen rises higher and 

 higher followed by a cone-shaped column of suitors until finally one of 

 the strongest of the drones catches her. As they mate his copulatory 

 organs burst from his body and remain in the genital organs of the 

 queen. After a few seconds the two fall to earth, where the queen 

 quickly breaks loose from her dying suitor. The sperms in the male 



Photo by Winchester 



Fig. 16.4. Queen cells. These cells were built in a hive from which the queen had 

 been removed. The one on the right has been capped over, the other two are still open. 



genitalia are pumped into the female reservoir, the spermatheca, over 

 a period of several hours. Within a half hour the queen returns with 

 the remains of the male organs still protruding from her body. These 

 are later removed by the queen or some of her attendants. 



Control of Sex of Offspring 



Within two to three days after mating the queen begins to lay eggs. 

 Human beings have long searched for a means of predetermining the 

 sex of their children and their domestic animals. Several techniques 

 have been tried but as yet give little promise of success. However, the 

 queen bee is able to lay eggs that will develop into males or females 

 as the occasion demands. Since the drones are entirely useless most of 

 the year, it would be a great disadvantage to have the sexes in equal 

 proportions. The worker bees make two sizes of cells, a small size for 

 worker eggs, and a larger size for drone eggs. Apparently the size of 

 the cell stimulates the queen to lay either fertilized eggs (in the small 



