22 The nahif.s of the Ilnneiihre 



they are incaj^able of mating, and the eggs laid by 

 Ihem produce nothing but drones. This entire subject 

 of the parthenogenetic development of the drones is 

 still but little understood, and here again is a wide 

 field of work for one who is willing to devote time and 

 energy to the subject. A few facts are well known; 

 but around these facts there has been woven a mass of 

 good or bad guesses which must be verified before we 

 arrive at the truth. If the theory could be stripped of 

 these surmises the whole subject would be much clear- 

 er; and one who undertakes to work on this line must 

 drop all but well-verified facts. The A. I. Root Com- 

 pany has published in booklet form " The Dzierzon 

 Theory/' by Baron von Berlepsch, which was trans- 

 lated into English by Samuel Wagner, and published 

 in the American Bee Journal for 1860. This booklet 

 contains a fuller discussion of the facts supporting 

 this theory, and should be consulted by any person 

 interested in the subject. 



Colonies containing drone-laying queens, or workers 

 which lay eggs, called fertile workers, can naturally 

 not become strong, since no new workers are produced 

 to do the work of the colony ; and as the old workers 

 are killed^, or die off in a comparatively short time, the 

 colony soon dies out, since the drones produced do no 

 work. This can be prevented by the owner of the hive 

 by introducing a new fertilized queen to the colony, 

 l)ut, of course, in nature the fate of the colony is 

 sealed. 



Having followed the course of normal and abnormal 

 colonies during a season we are now i^eady to see what 

 takes place in preparing for winter. The entire hive 

 is filled with honey, the drones are expelled from the 

 hive, and die, and Ihe queen ceases to lay eggs. When 



