OR, MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 103 



by the noted Baron, "They quickly disappear." Munn also 

 tells of a fifth kind, with a top-knot, which appears at swarm- 

 ing seasons. I am at a great loss to know what he refers to, 

 unless it be the pollen-masses of the asclepias, or milk-weed, 

 which sometimes fasten to our bees and become a severe 

 burden. 



THE QUEEN-BEE. 



The queen (Fig. 40), although referred to as the mother- 

 bee, was called the king by Virgil, Pliny, and by writers as 

 late as the last century, though in the "Ancient Bee-Master's 

 Farewell," by John Keyes, published in London in 1796, I find 

 an admirable description of the queen-bee, with her function 

 correctly stated. Reaumur, as quoted in " Wildman on Bees," 

 published in I^ondon in 1770, says, " This third sort has a grave 

 and sedate walk, is armed with a sting, and is mother of all 

 others." 



Huber, to whom every apiarist owes so much, and who, 

 though blind, through the aid of his devoted wife and intelli- 

 gent servant, Francis Burnens, developed so many interesting 

 truths, demonstrated the fact of the queen's maternity. This 

 author's work, second edition, published in Edinburgh in 1808, 

 gives a full history of his wonderful observations and experi- 

 ments, and must ever rank with the work of Langstroth as a 

 classic, worthy of study by all. 



The queen, then, is the mother-bee ; in other words, a 

 fully developed female. Her ovaries (Fig. 38, o, o ) are very 

 large, nearly filling her long abdomen. The tubes, already 

 described as composing them, are very numerous, there being 

 more than one hundred, while the spermatheca (Fig. 38, s b) is 

 plainly visible. This is a membranous sac, hardly 1-20 of an 

 inch in diameter. It is fairly covered with interlacing nerves, 

 which give to it its light, glistening appearance. The sper- 

 matheca has a short duct, joined to which is the duct of the 

 double appendicular glands which closely embrace the sper- 

 matheca. These are described by Siebold and Leuckart, who 

 suppose that they furnish mucus to render the sperm-cells 

 more mobile, so that they will move more freely. Leuckart 

 also describes muscles, which connect with the duct of the 



