826 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [Nov. 2, 1920. 



then drain oft" from the top tap into moulds to be treated and cooled as pre- 

 viously mentioned. The small cake of wax left in the cask below the tap 

 can be lifted out when cool, cleaned of impurities, and held over for the next 

 lot. 



To expedite the work of cleaning wax from utensils, kerosene will be 

 found of service where its use is practicable. 



Adulterated Wax. 

 Persons have sometimes tried to sell adulterated wax — usually a mixture 

 of tallow or paraffin — but since the adulterated article is easily detected 

 under the specific gravity test and generally results in a loss to the seller, 

 very little adulteration is carried on nowadays. 



An IXPERIMENT IN AkTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. 



Interesting experiments in drone egg fertilisation are desci'ibed by Mr. 

 Gilbert Barrett, of Sheffield, England, in a recent issue of The Bee World. 

 The egg of the bee is almost vmique, remarks the author, inasmuch as the 

 fertilising element from the male enters from the outside of the egg after 

 the latter is fully formed and iunnediately prior to its extrusion by the 

 queen ; it is this fact that makes artificial fertilisation possible, and 

 without the aid of elaborate and costly appliances. By means of such 

 fertilisation the egg laid by the queen bee — which would ordinai'ily produce 

 a drone — can be made to produce a worker larva, which, by the application 

 of queen-raising methods, can subsequently be made to produce a queen. 



Freshly laid drone eggs from a pure golden queen were first secured by 

 placing a frame of clean drone comb in the centre of a strong stock ; the 

 comb containing these eggs was then cut down, and pure Punic drones just 

 arrived in the hive from a flight were squeezed on to a warm glass plate. 

 The latter operation demands some practice before the sperraataphore can be 

 ejected, says the writer, and it was with a view to making the operation 

 easier and the i-esults more certain that the moment of arrival from flight 

 was chosen, the air sac being then fully distended. It is also important 

 that operations in connection with artificial fertilisation should be conducted 

 at a temperature of not less than 95 deg. Fah., which somewhere approxi- 

 mates to the internal temperature of the queen's body. 



The next operation was to touch the large end of the eggs with a camel- 

 hair pencil, previously dipped in the male sperm from the glass plate. The 

 eggs were then placed in an incubating chamber (a small poultry incubator), 

 and the temperature in this was maintained at 97 deg. Fah. The next day 

 and on the day following a little royal jelly, slightly thinned with new 

 honey, was added, and the larv;e were further fed with royal jelly for two 

 days after hatching. The transfer to artificial queen cups was then effected, 

 these being given to a queenless and broodless stock of bees. They were 

 duly accepted and capped over, and resulted, says Mr. Barrett, in perfect 

 queens. 



Experiments such as that described, which point a way to the practice of 

 direct selection in breeding, are vesty valuable ; and further accounts of 

 research in this direction will be keenly looked forward to by apiarists. — 

 W. A. GoouACRK, .Senior Apiary Inspector. 



