496 EXEiilES OF BEES. 



their natural changes. This was in Germany, where the 

 Winters are milder than in our Northern and Middle States. 



"If, when the thermometer stood at 10 degrees, I dissected a 

 chrysalis, it was not frozen, but congealed immediately after- 

 wards. This shows that, at so low a temperature, the vital 

 force is sufficient to resist frost. In the hive, the chrysalids 

 and larvae, in various stages of development, pass the Winter 

 in a state of torpor, in corners and crevices, and among the 

 waste on the bottom-boards. In March or April, they revive, 

 and the bees of strong colonies commence operations for dis- 

 lodging them. ' ' — Donhoff. 



Some larvfe which Mr. Langstroth exposed to a tempera- 

 ture of 6 degrees below zero, froze solid, and never revived. 

 Others, after remaining for eight hours iii a temperature of 

 about 12 degTees, seemed, after revi\'ing, to remain for weeks 

 in a crippled condition. 



* ' The eggs of the bee-moth are perfectly round, and very 

 small, being only about one-eighth of a line in diameter. In 

 the ducts of the ovarium, they are ranged together in the form 

 of a rosary. They are not developed consecutively, like those 

 of the queen bee, but are found in the ducts, fully and per- 

 fectly formed, a few days after the female moth emerges from 

 the cocoon. She deposits them, usually, in little clusters on the 

 combs. If we wish to witness the discharge of the eggs, it is 

 only necessary to seize a female moth, two or three days old, 

 with finger and thumb, by the head — she will instantly pro- 

 trude her ovipositor, and the eggs may then be distinctly seen 

 passing along through the semi-transparent duct. 



''Last Summer I reared a bee-moth larva in a small box. It 

 spun a cocoon, from which issued a female moth. Holding her 

 by the head, I allowed her to deposit eggs on a piece of honey- 

 comb. Three weeks afterwards, I examined the comb, and 

 found on it some web and two larvae. The eggs were all shriv- 

 eled and dried up, except a few which were perforated, and 

 from which, I suppose, the larvae emerged. This appears to be 

 a case of true parthenogenesis in the bee-moth." — Translated 

 from Dr. Donhoff by S. Wagner. 



