AGAMIC REPRODUCTION OF BEES. 5 73 
race being effected by a comparatively small number of indi¬ 
viduals. Thus, among the common Hive-Bees , the queen is 
the only perfect female; the drones are the males; and the 
workers are neuters. But these neuters are undeveloped 
females, as is shown by the curious fact already mentioned 
with regard to the capacity of their larvae for being developed 
under certain conditions into queens (§ 716). In the case of 
the “ queen-bee,”—as in the still more remarkable case of the 
queen Term.es (Zool. § 740), which will lay 80,000 eggs in 
twenty-four hours, and will continue to do so at the same 
rate for many weeks,—a single generative act suffices for the 
fertilization of a long succession of ova, though a large pro¬ 
portion of these may have been undeveloped at the time of 
its occurrence ; for the spermatic fluid is stored-up in a little 
receptacle opening-off from the oviduct of the female, so that 
a minute portion of it may come into contact with the eggs, 
as they descend one after the other. But it appears from 
recent inquiries, that the worker-eggs alone undergo this 
fertilization, and that the drone-eggs are deposited without 
receiving it; and there is strong reason to believe that the 
very same eggs may be developed either into workers or into 
drones, according as they do or do not receive the influence 
of the spermatic fluid. When engaged in depositing her 
eggs, the queen moves over the cells of the comb, apparently 
without any order, dropping an egg into each; and it seems 
to be determined by the size of the cells (those prepared for 
the drone-eggs being of larger diameter than those destined 
for the worker-eggs), whether or not this fertilizing act shall 
be performed as the eggs descend. It has long been observed, 
that queen-bees will occasionally deposit eggs without having 
left the hive for the “ nuptial flight ” with the male; and the 
eggs thus deposited always prove to be drones. It has also 
been observed that eggs are occasionally laid by workers; 
and of these also the products are always drones. Hence, it 
seems certain that the drones are always developed from 
agamic or unfertilized eggs; and it would appear that these 
very eggs, if fertilized by the male spermatic fluid, would 
produce workers. This is one of the most curious discoveries 
yet made in the physiology of Bees; and it remains to be 
determined how far the same thing is true among other tribes 
of Insects. 
