THE HONEY BEE 



361 



THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM 



Only the queen (Fig. 236, A) can lay 

 eggs, although the workers have rudi- 

 mentary ovaries. 



The two ovaries almost fill the "ab- 

 domen of the queen. Each of the ovaries 

 is made up of a great number of ovarian 

 tubules which contain eggs of different 

 sizes. The eggs pass into the oviduct 

 from the tubules, thence into the vagina 

 and out of the body through the genital 

 aperture. 



There is an opening into the vagina 

 which connects with the spermatheca or 

 sac in which the sperm are stored, and 

 sperm from ~this sac may apparently be 

 released at will by the queen as the eggs 

 pass through. If the sperm is not re- 

 leased the egg is not fertilized and then 

 drones hatch. Only females hatch from 

 fertilized eggs. 



In the drone (Fig. 236, B) two testes 

 are seen which are made up of several 

 hundred spermatic tubules in which the 

 F . 23g sperm are formed. A pair of fine tubes 



A. Reproductive organs, sting, and called vasa dcfcrentta connect these sper- 



poison gland of queen honey-bee. AGL, mofi,- tiiKpc -until tVif> ^pminal VP^lirlf*^ 

 acid gland ; AGIO., duct of acid gland ; matlC tUDCS Wit VCSlClCS. 



BGL, alkaline gland; Ov., ovary; ov., These latter in turn open into a pair of 



ovarian tubules ; Ov.D., oviduct ; Pan.- x 



Sc., poison sac; Spm., spermatheca; large mUCOUS glands which Unite. It IS 



vagina! 1 " ' at this union that the ejaculatory duct 



bee,' d^rsa^^ew, ^ffJrai ' P Jtton! begins. This duct ends in the copulatory 



AcGl., accessory gland; B., bulb of nrcran 



penis; EjD., ejaculatory duct; Pen, ^S* 1 *- 



penis; TVs., testis ; vDef., vas deferens ; TVi^ cr^rm r\f tVi^ ma If ^re> rklsrprl in 



Vea., seminal vesicle; it., uu., yy., zz., L ne Sperm Ot tne male are piaCCC 



parts of penis (From Snodgrass, t h e spermatheca (seminal receptaculum) 



lech, beries, 18, r>ur. h,nt., U. o. 



Dep't. of Agric.) of the queen by a single drone, where 



they remain alive for many years, in fact as long as the queen lives and 

 lays eggs. While the average life of a queen is probably somewhere 

 around three to four years, there is on record a queen which continued 

 laying fertile eggs for thirteen and a half years. 



About five to eight days after emerging from the egg, a queen will 

 leave the hive. First, she crawls about and takes very short flights, and 

 then goes on a nuptial trip of about thirty minutes. One of the drones 

 copulates with her during the nuptial trip, after which the queen returns 



8 



