THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST. 



81 



mathecal valve muscles, the sting 

 and ovipositor, while small ganglia 

 are distributed in profusion, a con- 

 siderable one Ijnng over the valve, 

 and sending branches forward into 

 the fertilizing pouch. 



It has been lately noticed by 

 some American beekeepers that if 

 a maturing queen, that has still 

 some days to pass in her cell before 

 gnawing out, has her cell opened 

 at the upper end so that into the 

 aperture a crushed drone larva 

 may be put, the aperture being 

 again carefully closed, she will in 

 due course appear as an imago, but 

 that she will already be fertilized. 

 It is stated that in many cases 

 queens so treated have commenced 

 la5ang fertile eggs almost directly 

 after leaving the cell. Incredible 

 as this might at first appear, it is 

 well worth the careful attention of 

 microscopists. The testes are very 

 early developed in the full-grown 

 larva of which I have found semi- 

 niferous tubes and spermatic fila- 

 ments in active movement (this is 

 quite in agreement with Mr. Lowne 

 in his observations on blow-flies), 

 and this fact will aff^ord a probable 

 explanation. The larva which is 

 to be developed into a queen is 

 provided by the workers with ex- 

 tremely large quantities of a spec- 

 ialized food of very nutritive 

 character. This is inserted into 

 the upper end of the pendulous 

 cell, and being somewhat viscous 

 the growing larva sticks upon its 

 surface by capillarity. At this 

 time there is of course no anus and 

 no genital aperture. When the 

 chrysalis condition is assumed, the 



body still adheres to the pappy 

 unconsumed food, from which I 

 have little doubt nutriment is still 

 received by osmosis. The spei-- 

 matozoa with their marvellous 

 vitality, still surrounded by drone 

 juices or nutrient food, would sur- 

 vive until the developing queen 

 ruptures the very delicate integu- 

 ment which is thrown off at the 

 last moult ; they then would pass 

 into the vulva and enter the sperm- 

 atheca, giving us a queen fertil- 

 ized from the birth, but one which, 

 no doubt, would carry but few 

 spermatozoa, and so be practically 

 useless — a point which the micro- 

 scope could alone determine. But 

 in this quaint performance practical 

 men have given to the embryologist 

 a method of experimenting, which 

 may yield good results. Every 

 scientific investigator would see at 

 once far better methods of pro- 

 cedure and possibilities, it may be, 

 not only of tracing the course of 

 the spermatozoa, but of producing 

 hybrids and mules, the study of 

 which may be of immense interest. 

 I hope at any rate to institute ex- 

 periments in this direction in the 

 coming summer, by which one 

 doubtful point may at any rate be 

 made to pass from the region of 

 speculation to that of knowledge. 

 It is as follows : — 



Although the drones produced 

 by the fertile workers (to which 

 reference was previously made) de- 

 velop spermatozoa exhibiting mi- 

 croscopically all the appearances 

 of those obtained from the normal 

 drone, still the virility of the in- 

 sect has been questioned, practical 



