156 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



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JVEPV OBSERVATIONS ON 



THE NATURAL HISTORY 



OF BEES. 



Br Francis Huber. 



(Continued from p. 133, Vol. III.) 



This experiment is decisive. Since 

 the eggs laid by the queen of a hive 

 where there were no males, and where 

 it was impossible one could be in- 

 troduced since these eggs I say were 

 fertile, it becomes indubitable that 

 aspersion with the masculine matter 

 is not needed to effect their exclusion. 



Though it did not appear that any 

 reasonable objection could be started 

 against such an inference, yet as I 

 had been accustomed in all my ex- 

 periments to investigate the most 

 trifling difficulties which could occur, 

 I conceived that Mr. Debraw's par- 

 tisans might maintain that the bees, 

 deprived of drones, perhaps would 

 search for those in other hives, and 

 carry the fecundative matter to their 

 own habitations for the purpose of 

 depositing it on the eggs. 



It was easy to appreciate the force 

 of this objection ; for the only thing 

 necessary was repetition of the for- 

 mer experiments, and confinement of 

 the bees so closely to their hives that 

 none could possibly escape. You 

 know very well, Sir, that these animals 

 can live three or four months confined 

 in a hive well stored with honey and 

 wax, if apertures are left for circula- 

 tion of the air. 



This experiment was made on the 



tenth of August ; and I ascertained, 

 by means of immersion, that no male 

 was present. 



The bees were confined four days 

 in the closest manner, and then I 

 found forty young larvos recently 

 hatched. I extended my precautions 

 so far as to immerse the same hive 

 a second time, to be assured that no 

 male had escaped my researches. 



Each of tlie bees was separately 

 examined and none was there that 

 did not display its sting. The co- 

 incidence of this experiment with the 

 other proved that the eggs were not 

 externally fecundated. 



In terminating the confutation of 

 Mr. Debraw's opinion I have only to 

 explain what led him into error. He 

 employed queens in his experiments 

 with whose history he was not ac- 

 quainted from their origin, when he 

 observed that the eggs produced by 

 a queen confined along with males 

 were fertile ; he thence determined 

 that they had been bedewed by the 

 prolific matter in the cells. 



But, to have rendered his conclu- 

 sion just, he should have first ascer- 

 tained that the female was in a virgin 

 state, and this he neglected. The 

 truth is, that without knowing it he 

 had used a queen after her commerce 

 with the male. Had he taken a vir- 

 gin queen the moment she came from 

 the royal cell, and confined her in 

 his vessel along with drones, the re- 

 sult would have been opposite ; for 

 even amidst a seraglio of males the 

 young queen never would have laid 

 as I shall afterwards prove. 



The Lusatian observers and Hat- 

 torf in particular thougljt the queen 

 was fecundated of herself without 

 concourse with the males. I shall here 

 give an abstract of the experiment on 

 which the opinion is founded. 



Hattorf took a queen whose vir- 

 ginity he could not doubt. He ex- 

 cluded all the males of the large, and 

 also of the small species, and in sev- 

 eral days found both eggs and worms. 

 \_To he continued.'] 



