INSECTS 131 



ejaculatory duct arises which leads to the exterior through the 

 copulatory organ. The mature sperm, after passing from the 

 testis through the vas deferens, may be stored for a time in the 

 seminal vesicles, but eventually they pass on into the accessory 

 gland where they are mixed with a secreted fluid. They are then 

 ready to be passed out of the body of the male and transferred 

 to the seminal receptacle of the queen. 



Female Reproductive Organs. Fully developed female re- 

 productive organs are found only in the queen. The essential 

 organs are a pair of large ovaries in which eggs develop. The 

 ovaries fill a large part of the abdominal cavity and contain eggs 

 in various stages of development, the general arrangement being 

 such that the most mature eggs are situated toward the posterior 

 end. The eggs are carried away from each ovary by a short 

 straight tube, the oviduct. The oviducts from each side unite to 

 form a common tube, the vagina, and opening into the latter is 

 the seminal receptacle, which contains sperm received from a 

 male during the nuptial flight. The vagina opens to the exterior 

 at the posterior end of the abdomen, near the sting. It is known 

 that the queen can lay two kinds of eggs : (1) unfertilized eggs, 

 which develop into drones, and (2) fertilized eggs, which de- 

 velop either into another queen, or into the sexually undeveloped 

 workers. It is not known how this process is regulated. 



5. Development of the Bee 



When a colony of Bees becomes so large that the hive is crowded, 

 a new queen is developed as described in the next section. Later, 

 when the young queen has reached sexual maturity, the old queen 

 leaves the hive, accompanied by considerable numbers of followers. 

 This is known as swarming. The swarm eventually finds a 

 suitable place in which to establish a new colony, and the routine 

 of hive life again begins. Shortly after this the young queen 

 emerges from the old hive and performs her nuptial flight 

 during which mating occurs high in the air with one of the drones. 

 Returning to the old hive, the young queen is supplied with food 

 by the workers and becomes practically an egg-laying machine. 

 Each day she lays a considerable number of eggs, most of which 

 are fertilized. The eggs are deposited by the queen in cells built 

 by the workers, and there the eggs develop : the fertilized ones 

 into workers, and the unfertilized into drones. The early devel- 



