248 GEO. H. BISHOP 
spermatic fluid can be seen passing through the base of the gland 
and the lumen of the ejaculatory duct, and the contents of these 
organs can be distinguished by the color. When the two fluids 
are loosely mixed in the bulb of the penis, the areas of yellow and 
white can be distinguished, and if the drone is stimulated to 
complete extrusion of the organ, with ejaculation, a rough deter- 
mination can be made by color as well as by consistency as to 
whether sperm or mucus has been emitted. When a queen has 
been newly fertilized, the penis attached in her organs can often 
be seen to be distended with clear white mucus, while the oviducts 
are distinctly yellow when dissected out. ‘This is found to be 
due to the fact that after copulation the sperms collect in a layer 
next the wall of the oviduct and conceal a central core of mucus. 
Sperms when densely crowded exhibit a tendency to lie parallel 
in masses, the filaments beating in unison, giving a characteristic 
undulatory appearance. This grouping approximates their ar- 
rangement when attached to the walls of the vesicle (pl. 2, fig. 
5b). Free on the slide, the masses of sperms arrange themselves 
in whorls or undulating bands; after copulation a cross-section 
of the oviduct of a queen shows a wavy band next the oviduct 
wall, and in the spermatheca of a fertile queen the sperms again 
arrange themselves in whorls, with the densely staining heads 
massed and the lighter staining filaments extending parallel. 
When diluted on a slide or mixed (in the oviduct) with mucus, or 
when, in a newly fertilized queen, only a few sperms have entered 
the spermatheca, the arrangement is scattering and indiscriminate. 
As for functions consistent with these characteristic qualities 
and behavior of mucous and sperm, respectively, actual results 
of copulation afford the final data. To anticipate a forthcoming 
paper dealing with this subject in detail, the sperms are received 
into the spermatheca of the female before the mucus is disposed 
of, and the latter is dissolved gradually from the distended 
oviducts of the queen bee into which both sperm and mucus 
are injected at copulation. The penis with which the female 
returns from the mating flight is distended with mucus alone, 
which has so hardened on contact with the air as to effectually 
stop and seal off the torn end of the organ. Having followed 
