560 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



dulging too freely in green fruits? He finds relief 

 in compression of the abdomen, which he secures 

 by simply bending- forward. When the queen lays 

 in a worker-cell, she bends into something like a 

 right angle. May not that position have a mechani- 

 cal effect in some way to secure the impregnation 

 of the egg? When she lays in a drone-cell her posi- 

 tion must be different, for the cell is deeper and 

 wider. In the Revised Langstroth it is suggested, 

 " It is possible that the width of the cells and the 

 position of her legs when laying in drone-cells pre- 

 vents the action of the muscles of her sperma- 

 theca." 



It is not impossible that exactly the same com- 

 pression may be caused in a shallow cell barely 

 commenced as in one full depth." If an egg is laid 

 in a shallow cell, does not the queen^bend into just 

 as sharp an angle as if the cell were full depth? 

 and is she not bent the same way in laying in a 

 queen-cell? for I think she never lays in queen-ceils 

 of full depth. But, how about laying in incipient 

 drone-cells? Does she lay in drone-cells less than 

 full-depth? If so, might not the width, as suggest- 

 ed by Dadant. have a mechanical effect? But if the 

 width makes drone eggs, then the greater width of 

 the queen-cells ought to make the eggs dmner still. 

 I don't know what reply can be made to that, un- 

 less it be that we know very little about it, only 

 that in some way the peculiar position essential 

 for impregnation may be secured both in the work- 

 er and queen, but not in the drone cell. 



Prof. Cook presents an argument that at first 

 sight appears unanswerable. He says: "What 

 gives added force to this view [the volition of the 

 queen] is the fact that other bees, wasps, and ants, 

 exercise the same volition, and can have no aid 

 from cell-pressure, as all the eggs are laid in recep- 

 tacles of the same size." 



But, do they exercise the " same volition "? That 

 word " same " is begging the question. Do they ex- 

 ercise any volition? Even if the receptacles are of 

 the same size, and if it is fully proven that there is 

 no compression of any kind, does that prove that 

 there is any volition? The common fowl lays eggs 

 of both sexes in the same receptacle ; but has she 

 any volition in the matter? Of course, I know that 

 the impregnation is different in the two cases; but 

 is volition proven in one case any more than in the 

 other? If the answer is, that for any thing we 

 know there may be some volition in the case of the 

 fowl, then, I ask, is there any volition in the case 

 of the human race? And now I fancy I see that 

 good-natured smile on the face of the professor as 

 he asks, " Do you think, now, really, that all the 

 force is taken out of my argument?" Candidly, I 

 don't, professor. I confess it leaves it rather bad 

 for the compression theory, but, just as much, it 

 leaves your volition theory " not proven." 



" The queen sometimes lays worker eggs in drone- 

 cells." Does she? In regular drone-cells? I beg 

 your pardon. As A. I. Root says in the ABC, 

 "The mouth of the cells will be contracted with 

 wax," and I think no worker egg is ever laid in a 

 drone-cell without the cell being first cut down in 

 depth, and the diameter of its mouth contracted. 

 Dadant says: "This contraction of the cell-mouth 

 seems indispensable to enable the queen to put in 

 motion the muscles of her spermatheca." 



Now comes Prof. Cook's clincher. He says the 

 Baron of Berlepsch has fully decided the matter. 

 " He has shown that old drone-cells are as small as 



new worker-cells, and yet each harbors its own 

 brood." Now, if that proves any thing doesn't it 

 prove too much? If the queen by her volition puts 

 a worker egg in every cell of small size, certainly 

 she would do so here where she finds cells as small 

 as new worker-cells, even though they may have 

 formerly been larger. But I suspect there may be 

 a mistake here, even with so great an authority as 

 Berlepsch back of the statement. Were these cells 

 as shallow as worker-cells? As the bottoms of cells 

 become filled with cocoons, the bees prolong the 

 cell-walls at the mouth, making old cells as deep as 

 new. Moreover, a close examination of old cells 

 will show that the narrowing toward the mouth be- 

 comes less and less till the outer edge which has 

 been freshly prolonged can have no narrowing. 

 Suppose, however, the cells should be found just as 

 small at the mouth— in other words, " as small as 

 new worker-cells," then we have precisely the case 

 already spoken of where the workers have made a 

 heavy rim of wax, and in that case we know that 

 worker-eggs are laid. 



Taking all these things into consideration, does it 

 not look more reasonable that the mechanical ef- 

 fect of position rather than the will of the queen 

 decides the sex of the egg? There certainly ap- 

 pears to be some volition on the part of the work- 

 ers, for they make desperate efforts to secure drone 

 eggs at certain times, while at others the drone- 

 cells are as carefully avoided; and it is possible 

 that the queen leaves the matter entirely in their 

 hands, but it is equally possible that she has a will 

 in the matter also. That will, however, goes per- 

 haps no further than to select a cell which by its 

 size or shape decides the sex of the egg. If you say 

 that she wills a worker egg, and makes the necessa- 

 ry muscular effort for its impregnation, the ques- 

 tion maybe asked, " Why does she not fill a drone 

 comb with worker eggs at a time when drones are 

 not wanted, and give the workers the wink to build 

 wax rims around the mouths of the cells instead of 

 first waiting for them to make the rims? Or, when 

 she is 80 anxious (if it is she and not the workers) 

 for drones that she will go two combs outside the 

 brood-nest to find a little patch of drone comb in 

 which to lay, why does she not use her will power 

 to lay drone eggs in some of the worker-cells? If 

 she is too intelligent to lay drone eggs where she 

 knows they would not have room enough to grow, 

 why does she not lay drone eggs in some of the in- 

 cipient queen-cells where they surely would have 

 elbow-room? C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, III., July 20. 



Look here, friend M. I do not know that 

 I can help you just now in this matter you 

 have so well summed up and arranged ; but 

 I think I can push you out into still deeper 

 water if there is where you want to be. 1 ou 

 have not said any thing about the experi- 

 ment of removing eggs from worker-cells to 

 drone-cells, and vice versa. As this always 

 results in having the egg produce exactly 

 what it would if it had not been removed, it 

 will rather help your position. But we have 

 another suggestion from one or more writ- 

 ers. This is, that the worker bees manage 

 the whole thing by performing some sort of 

 operation on the egg, or possibly giving the 

 infant bee something, or withholding some- 

 thing just as soon as it has broken the egg- 

 shell. Perhaps the proper kind of medicine 

 is put around the egg to change it just be- 



