FERTILIZATION IN THE HONEY-BEE 285 
orifice temporarily. If the contraction of the drone’s abdomen 
is violent enough to cause the eversion of the bulb, the medial 
tubular section must be withdrawn, for the bulb itself is too 
large to be able to enter the vagina. Its size, however, serves 
to keep this orifice open until the final portion, the tapering end 
of the ejaculatory duct adjoining the bulb, everts through the 
bulb and enters the vagina. 
2. Ejaculation. With the insects in connection, the drone’s 
seminal vesicles and accessory glands contract by spasmodic 
alternate twitchings of the circular and longitudinal muscles 
enveloping them (see former paper). In the gland the muscula- 
ture is so arranged about its base that the contraction of either 
set of muscles or of both of them serves to occlude the gland’s 
lumen, and prevent outflow of the mucous content through the 
ejaculatory duct. At the same time this contraction forces the 
mouth of the vas deferens from the seminal vesicle close against 
the chitinous membrane which covers the blind end of the ejacu- 
latory duct penetrating the gland’s base. This is burst through, 
and the sperms from the vesicle are the first to be ejaculated. 
Upon relaxation of the first spasmodic contraction of the mus- 
culature of the gland’s base, the lumen of the gland is again 
allowed to open, and the mucus in the distal reservoir region of 
the gland flows through the basal region and into the ejaculatory 
duct, following the sperm. In this manner ali the sperms are 
forced over into the queen’s organs. 
3. Separation. If eversion of the drone’s organ has been only 
partial (fig. 2, B), the uneverted bulb may be distended with 
mucus, but the sperm will have been forced on into the vagina. 
If eversion was complete (fig. 2, C), the bulb will still be distended 
by reason of its stiff chitinous structure. In either case it remains 
attached to the queen, lying in the genito-anal vestibule and 
bursa between the sting (dorsal) and the ventral floor of the 
passage. ‘The queen breaks this organ off from the drone, usually 
close behind the bulb, by crawling or flying in a circle around 
him, and returns with it to the hive. The character of the 
mucous content is such that it coagulates immediately on contact 
with the air, thus preventing backflow of the sexual fluids through 
