THE DETERMINATION OF SEX. 



37 



{p) The Case of Bees. — The three kinds of inmates in a beehive 

 are known to every one as queens, workers, and drones; or, as 

 fertile females, imperfect females, and males. What are the factors 

 determining the differences between these three forms ? In the first 

 place, it is believed that the eggs which give rise to drones are not 

 fertilized, while those that develop into queens and workers have 

 the normal history. But what fate rules the destiny of the two latter, 

 determining whether a given ovum will turn out the possible mother 

 of a new generation, or remain at the lower level of a non- fertile 

 working female ? It seems certain 

 that the fate mainly lies in the quan- 

 tity and quality of the food. Royal 

 diet, and plenty of it, develops the 

 reproductive organs of the future 

 queens; sparser and plainer food re- 

 tards the sexuality of the future workers, 

 in which reproductive organs do not 

 develop. Up to a certain point, the 

 nurse-bees can determine the future des- 

 tiny of their charge by changing the 

 diet, and this in some cases is certainly 

 done. If a larva on the way to become 

 a worker receive by chance some 

 crumbs from the royal superfluity, the 

 reproductive function may develop, and what are called ' ' fertile 

 workers," to a certain degree above the average abortiveness, 

 result; or, by direct intention, a worker grub may be reared into a 

 queen-bee. 



The following table, after a recent analysis by A. von Planta, shows 

 the differences of diet as far as solids are concerned. For queens 

 69.38 per cent, for drones 72.75 per cent, and for workers 71.63 

 per cent is water. 



Fig. 12. — The Queen (a), Worker (c), and 

 Drone (b) of the Common Hive-bee. 



From the above, it is seen that the queen larva? get a quantity of 

 fatty material double that given to the workers. The drones at first 

 receive a large percentage of nitrogenous material, but this soon 



