THE A3IERICAN APICULTURIST. 



enters a centralis and curiously 

 folded apparatus which, for a rea- 

 son to be presently explained, I 

 shall denominate the fertilizing 

 pouch. I have strong reasons for 

 supposing that the path upwards 

 from the bursa copulat7-ix (where 

 the male organs of the drone are 

 retained at the time of copulation) 

 and thi'ough the pouch aforesaid 

 to the sperraatheca is so involved 

 that it would not be possible for 

 the spermatozoa to enter the latter 

 by following it, but that in the 

 early life of the second wider and 

 straighter channel to which I have 

 referred is fully open and by it the 

 spermatozoa, with their inscrutable 

 power of self-direction, pass up- 

 wards, avoiding the mazes of the 

 fertilizing pouch and packing them- 

 selves for future use. The queen 

 if still unmated at four or five 

 weeks old becomes incapable of 

 copulation, or at least she evinces 

 no desire for it, and this possibly 

 marks the time when this lower 

 passage closes ; this closure in a 

 mated queen forcing the spermato- 

 zoa in descending to take their way 

 to the fertilizing pouch. 



If a central comb be lifted from 

 a hive during the summer months, 

 eggs in number will be discovered. 

 If one of these be removed from 

 either a worker or drone cell by 

 the wetted point of a camel's-hair 

 pencil, and then microscopically 

 examined in water or glycerin, its 

 surface will be found beautifully 



14 The tracing of this channel I found ex- 

 tremely diflicult in the hive bee. The prob- 

 lem in the common wasp is far easier, since 

 in the latter the walls are stronger and more 

 definite. 



netted (the chorion), almost as 

 though a tiny pearl had been cov- 

 ered with what the ladies call 

 "blonde," hundreds of the meshes 

 of which were required to coat it 

 completely. Towards one end the 

 netting makes its cells long and 

 narrow and pointing towards a 

 circular spot, just as the cordage 

 of a balloon points towards the 

 upper valve by which the gas is 

 allowed to escape. This circular 

 spot, I need not here explain, is 

 really an opening called the micro- 

 pyle, by which the spermatozoon 

 enters and unites its material with 

 the germ cell, so bringing about 

 fertilization. It will be remem- 

 bered that it has been already stat- 

 ed that in bees this fusion of male 

 and female elements produces the 

 female (partially developed as to 

 sex in the worker, and fully so 

 developed in the queen), which will 

 possess qualities of both father 

 and mother, so that the tiny sper- 

 matozoon not only differentiates 

 the entire creature, but communi- 

 cates unerringly differences of 

 species or mere variety even. The 

 spermatozoa from Cyprian, Italian, 

 and English bees are to the most 

 refined microscopical examination 

 identical, and yet they contain 

 differences which determine almost 

 countless variations in form, color, 

 size, instinct, capability, and tem- 

 per. 



That the spermatozoon enters 

 the egg is certain, for it may be 

 found if the latter be carefully 

 examined immediately after depo- 

 sition. (It is my opinion, resting 

 upon facts which do not fall within 



