268 G. H. BISHOP 
such nuclei repeatedly, promptly at the normal age, and at the 
usual time of day for mating flights (11 a.m. to 2 or 3 P.M.) 
indicates that for the purposes of the experiment such frequent 
handling did not interfere materially with the results. At each 
inspection the queen was actually located by observation or 
else searched for at fifteen-minute intervals until found or until 
satisfactorily demonstrated to be lost. In this way a queen 
found with the drone’s organ attached was known to have 
returned from a mating flight within the past half-hour if she 
had been observed at the last regular inspection, or within forty- 
five minutes if she had been missing then, etc. The small number 
of queens available makes too precise an interpretation of the 
resultant data inadvisable, but the general agreement of the 
results from the respective queens allows of certain reliable and 
definite conclusions. 
The queens were treated as follows: 
Two queens, A and B, killed immediately on return to hive; 
one was dissected fresh and one preserved for histological study. 
Two queens, C and D, killed one to one and a half hours 
after mating, one dissected fresh and one preserved for histo- 
logical examination. 
One queen, E, killed two to two and a half hours after mating. 
Dissected. 
One queen, F, killed four to four and a half hours after mating. 
Preserved for hictaloninal examination. 
One queen, G, killed six to six and a half hours after mating. 
Dissected at once. 
One queen, H, killed eighteen hours after mating. Preserved 
for histological examination. 
HISTORICAL 
There has been little reported in the literature on actual 
results of fertilization of the queen bee. The work of Bresslau,' 
checked by Zander,? appears satisfactory as an anatomical 
‘Bresslau. Die Samenblasengang der Bienenkénigin. Zool. Anzeiger, Bd. 
29, 1905. 
* Zander. Die Ausbildung des Geschlechts bei der Honigbiene. Zeit. der 
angewandte Entomologie, Bd. 3, 1916. 
