402 Mr. Rupert W. Jack on 



Cape workers were present, and thirty of these were col- 

 lected, and on dissection fourteen were found to contain 

 eggs. There were no spermatozoa present. Other fertile 

 workers were dissected on March 27th and on April 2nd 

 with the same result. In the meantime, egg-laying con- 

 tinued and worker cappings ajDpeared on the bulk of the 

 brood in the combs, but about half a dozen drone cappings 

 were in evidence amongst the worker brood. On opening, 

 the latter were found to contain undersized drones. By 

 April 2nd no drone cappings were present at all, and Cape 

 workers were emerging freely. Five or six undersized 

 drones were present amongst the bees. 



Again, on April 8th nothing but worker cappings were 

 seen, young bees were numerous and all of the Cape 

 variety. Several were seen to emerge during the inspec- 

 tion. No drones at all were seen. On April 18th all the 

 cappings were of the worker kind, Cape workers were 

 emerging from the cells and numerous young Cape workers 

 were present in the hive. The bees had constructed and 

 sealed a queen cell in the meantime. One diminutive drone 

 was seen. On the 27th the queen had emerged and was 

 found in the hive. She had all the appearance of a pure 

 Cape variety. Nothing but worker cappings were visible 

 on the combs, and a long search was needed to find even 

 one small Cape drone in the hive. By this date the queen- 

 less hive had been under the writer's observation for thirty- 

 five days, during the last twenty-five of which no drone 

 cappings had appeared and large numbers of Cape workers 

 had emerged. This experiment, therefore, proved a clear 

 corroboration of the first. The fortunate appearance of 

 a queen served as a corroboration of the second experi- 

 ment, whilst the fact that none of the fertile workers 

 examined on March 23rd and 27th and on April 2nd con- 

 tained spermatozoa, and that no drones emerged at any 

 time that could possibly have been the progeny of eggs 

 laid by these workers shortly before dissection (the period 

 of development from egg to adult in the Cape variety 

 agrees with that of European varieties), eliminated the 

 exceedingly small possibility of an accident by which all 

 the fertile workers taken for dissection might have been 

 destined to produce drones. It is obvious that the eggs they 

 were laying at the time they were caught produced workers 

 only, and as no spermatozoa were present there can be no 

 doubt that the eggs were parthenogenetically produced. 





