The Ilabits of the Honeybee 21 



phenomenon should start several virgin queens in 

 hives, and probably 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 most cases eggs 

 disintegi'ate unless fertilized by spermatozoa of the 

 same species. Just why fertilization is necessary is 

 still a disputed point among scientists; but we know 

 that it is by all means necessary in the majority of 

 cases. Yet in many cases in the animal kingdom eggs 

 do develop without fertilization, and one of the best 

 known cases is the development of the drones of the 

 honeybee. To this phenomenon the name " parthen- 

 ogenesis " is applied. 



This fact concerning drones was discovered by 

 Johannes Dzierzon in 1845, and has since been verified 

 by many workers on the subject. As the eggs in the 

 queen leave the ovaries they pass down a tube called 

 the oviduct, to the outside. As they traverse the ovi- 

 duct they pass the entrance to the spermatheca men- 

 tioned above; and if the egg is to become a female, 

 worker, or queen, it receives from the spermatheca one 

 spermatozoon which fertilizes it; if it is to become a 

 drone it receives no spermatozoon, and, consequently, 

 is in the same condition as are all the eggs of a drone- 

 layer. Since a normal queen rarely lays a drone egg- 

 in a worker-cell, or vice versa, provided both kinds of 

 cells are present, it would seem that she in some way 

 can control the spermatheca; but how this is done is 

 still a mystery. 



Another fact which supports the theory of parthen- 

 ogenesis is that Avorkers in a colony which is hope- 

 lessly queenless will often begin to lay eggs. As we 

 have seen, workers as well as queens are females, but 



