THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



43 



[Translated for the Bco Jonrnal. 



Dr. Landois' New Theory. 



Accordinfif to Dr. Landois, sex in insects is 

 not dftcrnuned already in tlie egg wlien it is 

 laid, but becomes so subsequently by the quality 

 and quantity of the nutriment •which the 

 larva receives when disclosed from the egg. 

 Individuals richlj" nourished, he conceives, -will 

 beeome females, while those poorly fed become 

 males. Were this so, then in years of scarcity, 

 when large numbers even of the human family 

 are necessarily put on half rations, all the insects 

 then bred would necessarily be males, and the 

 entire race of bees must long since have become 

 extinct, from the exclusive production of drones. 

 Thus the views of Dr. Landois are at once seen to 

 be erroneous, and inconsistent with the wise ar- 

 rangements of Providence as displayed every- 

 where iu nature. But in the special case of 

 bees, the error is so palpable, that it cannot fail 

 to be detected on the slightest examination. 

 No one will, of course, for one moment think 

 of testing it by repeating the experiments which 

 Dr. Landois professes to have made, with such 

 wonderful results. Indeed, he cannot well have 

 made them himself, or, if he attempted to do 

 so, was surely outwitted by the bees. 



The fact that when the eggs have once been 

 laid, the sex of the bee to be hatched from it, 

 is already unchaugcablj' fixed therein, and that 

 neither cell nor food can subequently exert any 

 influence on it in this respect, may readily be 

 ascertained by a much more simple method. 

 Nay, the bees themselves are very frequently 

 demonstrating it by their own operations. It 

 is well kuown that queenless bees will endeavor 

 to rear queens from drone eggs or larvfE, when 

 Avorker eggs or larva; are not within their reach. 

 They enlarge the cell and supply it lavishly 

 with food for the nourishment of the proposed 

 embryo queen. But no queen is overproduced 

 by the process ; though, if Dr. Landois were 

 correct, failures could not possibly occur. 

 Again, a young queen remains unfertilized, be- 

 cause she is unable to fly or was bred late in 

 the fall when no drones survived. In the fol- 

 lowing spring she will lay eggs regularly in 

 worker cells ; and she does so because, at that 

 season and while the population is still weak, 

 she strives to produce Avorkers only, and the 

 workers themselves then certainly do not de- 

 sire the production of drones. Yet drones, and 

 drones only, invariably proceed from those 

 eggs. Uow can Dr. Landois explain this, on 

 his theory ? 



No, when the egg is once laid, the sex of the 

 bee thence proceeding is certainly alreadj' un- 

 alterably determrned. I am fully persuaded 

 that no subsequent artificial impregnation can 

 etf(?ct a change, because it has then already lost 

 all capacity for impregnation, as the micropyle 

 becomes immediately closed, and the entrance 

 of spermatozoa is forever barred. The size of 

 the cell and the abundant or scant supply of 

 food can only efiect the more or less perfect 

 dtvelopement of the body and its organs, deter- 

 mining only whether the product shall be a 

 perfect, a crippled, or a partially developed 

 insect. 



That external causes, and among them the 

 food, should influence the color of the bees ; 

 and that, for example, Italian bees bred in ele- 

 vated situations should be lighter colored than 

 those bred at a lower elevation, as has been al- 

 leged by some, I will not undertake to deny, 

 though I incline to doubt it. The opinion may 

 be based on mistake or misconception. Italian 

 bees adhering to a comb certainly appear bright- 

 er, when there are among them many young 

 ones, quite recently emerged. Climatic influ- 

 ences, however, would require a longer time to 

 exhibit an observable efl'ect. A rapid modifi- 

 cation of color might find its solution in an un- 

 perceived change of queen. But it would, at 

 the same time, show that the bees under con- 

 sideration are no longer pure Italians, or of auni- 

 form and stable type. Among my bees at least, 

 the color of tlie pure Italians continues always 

 and uniformly the same, however much the 

 nutriment of the bees may difier, in kind or 

 quality, at different seasons. Dzierzon. 



Carlsmarkt, May 26, 1867. 



[Translated for the Bee Journal.] 



Advice to Beginners. 



When, on revision of stock in the spring, a 

 colony is found to be ciueeuless, it is not worth, 

 while to attempt to preserve it, unless a fertile 

 queen can be immediately introduced. When 

 this cannot be done, the most advisable course 

 is to drive out the bees, and unite them with 

 some colony, otherwise in good condition, 

 though weak in numbers. 



It is equally bootless to endeavor to build up 

 a colony again, which has become weak and 

 queenless from over-swarming. By the time 

 the last after-swarm has issued, nearly all the 

 brood in the parent hive will have matured and 

 left the cells ; and though a fresh supply of 

 brood be given, the stock will have become so 

 depopulated, before a queen can be raised and 

 the young bees emerge, it is scarcely possible 

 for it to recover, without continuil nursing and 

 reinforcement, so as to be in a condition to 

 winter safelj% unless there h«ppeii to be abun- 

 dant pasturage late in the fall. 



It is hence a very great advantage to keep 

 constantly on hand in the apiary, a number of 

 nucleus colonics in movable comb hives, of a 

 size just adapted to accommodate six or eight 

 combs with an adequate number of bees. The 

 construction of such hives is simple and inex- 

 pensive ; and in them colonies can be conve- 

 niently and safely wintered, when placed in a 

 dark and dry cellar. There is so little trouble 

 or difficulty in wintering such colonies that they 

 cannot be too highly recommended for the use 

 of beginners, especiallj' in connection with their 

 ordinary stocks. Though no queenless stocks 

 be found in the apiary, it will be an obvious 

 benefit when we come to make artificial colo- 

 nies, to be able, while one portion of the hive 

 to be divided retains the queen, to give to the 

 other one already fertile taken from a nucleus 

 colony. 



