July 4, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



421 



tilized and unfertilized eggs, hut that she should do so at 

 will is nowhere proven, to my knowledge. It is very doubt- 

 ful in my mind that it ever will be. Without any fear of 

 being proven incorrect, I might claim that the queen al- 

 ways acts compulsorily, that she can not do any differently 

 than add sperm to the worker-egg, and withhold it from the 

 drone-egg. In fact, it seems more reasonable to suppose 

 that these delicate and peculiar organs of the queen act 

 involuntarily, the same as they do in other living beings. 

 We have heard it and read it so much, that a queen can 

 fertilize eggs at will — we have been brought up with this 

 idea — that we scarcely give it any thought. We take it for 

 granted that it is so. Where is there any proof? All we 

 really do know is that she lays both fertilized and unferti- 

 lized eggs, and places them in diii'erent sized cells, each 

 kind in a special cell ; but we jump to the conclusion that 

 she does it knowingly. 



It is misleading to speak positively of a thing we do 

 not know. As long as we consider it a theory, an assurap- 



PAKT OF HOME APIART OF T0FIEL11 LEHMAN. — See page 418. 



tion, some inquisitive mind may be induced to ferret the 

 matter to the end. 



As to the worker-bees determining the sex of the egg, 

 the Professor quotes and criticises Dickel as follows : 



" Dickel thinks that they [the bees] add saliva [to the egg after it 

 has been deposited in the cell. J In ca6e he is correct in his observa- 

 tion, his conclusion that this has something to do with determining 

 sex does not follow." 



On this point I beg to say that Dickel does nof claim 

 that saliva added to the egg determines its sex ; he claims 

 this for another secretion, the product of a special set of 

 glands (of systems II and III, according to Dickel), the 

 secretion of one determining the male, of the other the 

 female, the secretions of both systems combined determin- 

 ing the sex or nature of the worker. On this basis Dickel 

 attempts to explain how it comes about that abnormally- 

 built workers develop. Perhaps not many of us have 

 observed these funny-looking workers with a drone-like 

 head. Under " Questions and Answers," page 360, such 

 are spoken of. It would be interesting to know how the 

 queen that produced these bees would behave in some 

 other colony. 



It is not my object to criticise Prof. Cook — I simply 

 wish to draw attention to these facts as I understand them. 



Ontario Co., N. Y. 



An Italian " Atlas of Bee-Culture." 



BY C. P. D.MIANT. 



MR. A. DE RAUSCHENFELS publishes in Milan, Italy, 

 a new edition of the magnificent chromos of the anat- 

 omy of the honey-bee, drawn by the Signer Clerici, 

 after the microscopic studies of Count Gaetono Barbo, 

 which were originally published some 25 years ago, under 

 the auspices of the Central Association of encouragement 

 to bee-culture in Italy. A copy of this work is before me. 



The present issue, instead of being in detached plates, as 

 formerly, is in the shape of an Atlas (Atlante Di Apicol- 

 tura) and gives, not only the 30 chromos, in book form, but 

 also a descriptive text opposite each plate. In addition, an 

 extensive and thorough treatise on bee-culture, of the same 

 size, and containing 380 pages and numerous engravings, 

 accompanies the atlas. The title of the latter work is, 

 ■' L'Ape e la sua coltivazione " — The Honey-bee and Its 

 Cultivation." 



Although many have been the microscopic studies, and 

 many have been the publications on the honey-bee, nothing 

 more extensive and more accurate has ever been produced. 

 Girard's cuts, as is well known, are all reduced copies of 

 these chromos. Others have borrowed from them also. 

 The work is now in such a fine shape that it is to be 

 regretted that it has not been published also in a more uni- 

 versal language than the Italian. 



The following is a synopsis of the contents of the 

 Atlas : 



Plate 1. — A comb with worker-cells, drone-cells, queen- 

 cells, both sealed and unsealed. 



Plate 2. — An Italian queen, magnified to 7 inches in 

 length. 



Plate 3. — The head of a queen magnified to 2'2 inches. 



Plate 4. — The genital organs of the queen, the ovaries, 

 ducts and spermatheca. 



Plate S. — Eggs and larva;, highly magnified. 



Plate 6. — The curved sting of the queen-bee. showing 

 the very diminutive poison-sac, and abortive poison-glands. 



Plate 7. — The drone magnified to 6 inches in length 

 (Italian drone). 



Plate 8. — The head of the drone, showing the large 

 compound eyes, ocelli, and small mandibles. 



Plate 9. — The ocelli, or smaller eyes, of the drone, 

 magnified 45 diameters. 



Plate 10. — Sexual organs of the drone, the penis, 

 sperm-glands, etc. 



Plate 11. — The penis of the drone magnified 15 diame- 

 ters. Spermatozoa of the fertilizing fluid, magnified 150 

 diameters. 



Plate 12. — The worker-bee, Italian. 



Plate 13.— The head of the worker-bee, diameter 3 

 inches, the antenna magnified to 2^3 inches in length. 



Plate 14. — The composite eye of the worker-bee magni- 

 fied to 4 inches. 



Plate 15. — The tongue of the worker-bee, magnified to 

 a length of 7yi inches. 



Plate 16. — The wing of the worker-bee magnified to the 

 length of 7'2 inches. This is hardly up to Cheshire's cut 

 of the same thing, as it does not show plainly the plait and 

 hooklets by which the parts of the wing are hinged 

 together in flight. This is most thoroughly shown in 

 Cheshire's work. 



Plate 17. — Anterior and posterior legs of the worker- 

 bee. This is not quite so much detailed as Cheshire's. 



Plate 18. — Main artery, which, as we understand it, is 

 practically the heart of the bee (Vaso pulsante). 



Plate 20. — Salivary glands of the worker-bee. These 

 are the glands which are believed to help prepare the royal 

 jelly, and give the peculiar bee-flavor to honey. Much 

 discussion among scientists has taken place concerning 

 this matter. 



Plate 21. — The breathing apparatus of the bee — air- 

 sacs, trachea?, and breathing orifices. 



Plate 22. — Digestive apparatus of the worker-bee show- 

 ing the tongue and its appendages, the honey-sac, stomach, 

 Malpighian tubes, and intestines to the end of the rectum. 



Plate 23. — Sexual organs of the worker-bee. Atro- 

 phied ovaries of a worker ; ovaries of a drone-laying 

 worker. 



Plate 24. — The wax-producing organs. 



Plate 25.— The sting of the worker-bee. 



Plate 26.— Nymph or chrysalis of a worker-bee, during 

 its transformation, or metamorphosis. 



Plate 27. — Microscopic view of foul brood, now called 

 " bacillus alvei." 



Plate 28. — Magnified cut of bee-moth, miller and worm. 



Plate 29. — Braula coeca or bee-louse, magnified. Also 

 mandible of fruit-piercing wasps. 



Plate 30.— The death-head moth (Sphinx atropos), a 

 large moth which is said to enter the hives, in Europe, and 

 feed upon the honey in spite of the bees. 



The price of the work, both volumes, is 12 lire. It 

 could probably be furnished to American students for 

 about ?3.00 per copy. It is a fine work of art, well worthy 

 of the country in which it has been produced — the birth- 

 place of fine arts. Hancock Co., 111. 



