o40 EJIirOET OP THE CuMMISSIOMEE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Upon beo-keepers, and be the means of advancing the profession a long 

 way towards i)erfection." Eealizing the difficulties to be overcom e, there 

 was little eDConragement to expect success. However, all progress '* is 

 tTSually the slow outgrowth of repeated trials," and " failures precede 



successes 



V 



Various methods and expedients have been adopted for securiug the 

 fertilization of queens in confinement, none of which have proved satis- 

 factory. 



During the past two years reference has occasionally been made in 

 apicultural papers to a process of fecundating queens while in the 

 larva and the pupa or nymph stage of development, by crushing drone 

 larva upon the queen larva, or by opening the cell and introducing 

 crushed drone larva upon the nymph queen. In a few instances ex- 

 XDcrimenters have reported that the practice has been successful, and 

 that queens thus treated have begun laying fecundated eggs in from 

 one to two days after leaving the cell. 



In each of the reported cases some important fact in the evidence 

 tending to establish the genuineness of the claim to success seems to 

 have been wanting or doubtful. In consequence these reports have 

 been received with reserve and often with ridicule. 



For putting these claims to the test, we caused a number of queen 

 cells to be built, and just before the cells were capped I squeezed the 

 contents of the generative organs of nymph drones upon the larval 

 queens. The bees removed the larvsB and destroyed the cells. After 

 other queen cells were capped we opened them by making a horizontal 

 incision at the base of the cells, and another at right angles down the 

 side of the cell, and laid back a part of the side, exposing the queen 

 pupa. Through the opening in the ceU we squeezed the liquid contents 

 of the generative organs of imago drones upon the pupa queens. The 

 sides of the cells were then replaced and sealed with melted bees-wax 

 and rosin. These cells were placed in nursery cages and hatched in 

 queenless nuclei colonies. These queens were liberated in nucleus col- 

 onies after their wings were clipped. Upon being hatched they resem- 

 bled fecundated laying queens more than virgin queens. The treat- 

 ment they received from the bees and their action upon the combs was 

 that of fecundated rather than that of virgin queens. Repeated exper- 

 iments, however, failed to produce a queen capable of laying fecundated 

 eggs. Still, the fact tbat the treatment given the embryo queens had to 

 such an extent changed their physiological characteristics was sugges- 

 tive. From the analogy between the animal and vegetable kingdom 

 where ripe seed is known to grow better than unripe, it seemed more 

 than probable that the contents of the generative organs of a mature 

 drone would have more virility than those of a drone larva or pupa. 



That the active principle in the fluid contained in the procreative 

 organs of the drones attains a degree of activity at a very eaiiy stage 

 in iheir development is evident from the eflect produced by exposing 

 tbe larval queens to its influence. Continuing the experiment we caused 

 more queen cells to be built. Removing the testes and seniinal sack 

 from mature drones with a pair of pliers, the contents were pressed 

 upon the larval queens. The bees removed the uncapped larvai as be- 

 tbre. Most of the pupa queens so treated and placed in nursery cages 

 for hatching died in the cell after assuming the imago state and after 

 being partiy colored. We hope to be able yet to discover what priuci- 

 pies and practice are essential to success which seems possible, for many 

 possible opportuuites remain untried. While i)ossessiug possibilities 

 of the greiitest interest and value to the embryologist and entomolo- 



