688 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



an egg or to rest, she is surrounded by the workers. In about two 

 days after mating the young queen begins to lay, and this one duty 

 she performs until her death, never again leaving the hive except 

 with a swarm. 



The colony with the young queen is now in the same condition 

 as the one which left the hive, both having laying queens, combs, 

 brood, and a sealed hive. Their histories, under normal circum 

 stances, are then practically tin.' same. Both prepare for winter, 

 and the following spring both cast swarms again, and so the cycle 

 is repeated. Such is the activity of bees under favorable condi- 

 tions; but, needless to say, this ideal is not always realized, and we 

 will now follow colonies under other conditions. 



Let us take a colony with a virgin queen like the one left after a 

 swarm is cast. It sometimes happens that the queen is defective 

 'in some way so that she can not fly from her hive to meet a drone. 

 This may be caused by mutilated or weak wings, or possibly the 

 queen shoe's no disposition to fly. On the other hand, the weather 

 may not be favorable for her flight, or there may be no drones in 

 the air when she does flv. Evidentlv, anv of these conditions will 

 prevent mating; and when this occurs we are enabled to see one of 

 the most remarkable phenomena of the hive. The observer who 

 wishes to study this phase of bee activity may bring about the same 

 conditions by cutting off the win<;s of the queen or by covering the 

 entrance of the hive with perforated zinc so that it is not necessary 

 to depend on chance to bring about what we are now to observe. 



If a queen remains unmated for a period of three weeks she is 

 incapable of mating, and loses all desire to leave the hive to meet 

 a drone. After that time she may begin to lay eggs, but, strangely 

 enough, these eggs produce nothing but drones and the queen is 

 then what is known as a "drone layer." Obviously then, drones 

 are produced from eggs which have not been fertilized. Not all 

 unmated queens become drone layers; in fact, many queens die if 

 not mated and many others never lay at all; but if any eggs are 

 laid they produce only drones. From my own experience in trying 

 to bring about this condition I can say that the person wishing 

 to verif} r the statements made concerning this strange phenomenon 

 should start several virgin queens in hives and possibly one or two 

 will lay. 



This introduces us to one of the most remarkable phenomena 

 which is known to occur in nature, but it is not characteristic of 

 bees alone. In the vast majority of cases in the animal kingdom 

 eggs disintegrate ilnless fertilized by spermatozoa of the same spe- 

 cies. Just why fertilization is necessary is still a disputed point 

 among scientists; but we know that it is necessary in most cases. 

 To the development of eggs without the usual fertilization the name 

 "Parthenogenesis" is applied. 



The parthenogenetic development of drones was first completely 

 described by Johannes Dzierzon, a priest of Karlsmarkt, Germany, 

 and a bee-keeper of long experience. It has since been verified by 

 many workers on the subject. As the eggs pass down the oviduct 

 on their way from the ovaries of the queen they pass the opening 

 of the spermatheca, and if the egg is to become a female it receives 

 from this spermatheca one, and only one, spermatozoon; if it is to 

 become a drone it receives no spermatozoon, and consequently re- 



