42 



THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



do this on a smooth surface like 

 ghass. When a bees's feet are dry, 

 and it walks upon glass or tin, its 

 feet secrete a stick}' substance 

 which enables it to hold to the 

 surface. 



If a pane of glass is examined 

 with a microscope after a bee has 

 run up and down it, its tracks can 

 be seen, and this is what discolors 

 the white comb, if it is left long on 

 the hive after it is sealed. I have 

 often noticed that glass was sticky 

 after bees had been ruuning up and 

 down on it, and supposed that it 

 ■was a wax secretion. 



Peoria, III. 



better theory than the great Ger- 

 man beemaster has done. 



^BSEllS, 



Answers by Practical Apiarists. 



WILL rUKE QUEENS MISMATED PRODUCE 

 PUHB DRONES? 



Query No. 43. — If a yinre Italian queen 

 iinate with a drone of an3' otiier race, will 

 her drone progeny be liybrid or \n\re Italian ? 

 L. V. QUIGLEV. 



Eugene Secor and G. M, Ham- 

 baugh say, pure Italian. 



ANSWER BY C. C. MILLER. 



Dzierzon says pure Italian, and 

 I think he's rioht. 



ANSWER BY R. L. TAYLOR. 



The scientists say the drone 

 progeny of a pure queen will be 

 pure no matter what her mating. 



ANSWER BY J. M. SHUCK. 



Dr. Dzierzon says the drones 

 will be pure. Father Langstroth 

 says the same. I believe the most 

 noted writers agree that the male 

 progeny of a pure queen will be 

 pure even though she be cross- 

 mated. I shall not criticise ad- 

 versely, until able to present a 



ANSWER BY G. W. PORTER. 



A pure queen of any race, accord- 

 ing to the iiighest German autiior- 

 ities, will have pure drone progen}^ 

 We believe they are correct. 



One of the difficulties in the way 

 of correct conclusions, is to know 

 that we have pure queens. The 

 Dzierzon theory would appear to 

 traverse the law that surely gov- 

 erns "like begets like," "each alter 

 its kind" etc., but why? where ac- 

 cording to that theory, the egg for 

 the male is generated by the queen, 

 alone, irrespective of a mate or 

 mating. Were this not so, why do 

 fertile workers as we call them 

 have drones alone for progeny? 



ANSWER BY JOSHUA BULL. 



There seem to be two distinct 

 queries involved here. One in the 

 heading to the query and another 

 in the query itself. To the former 

 I would sa}' that, to me it appears 

 to be a self-evident fact that a h}'- 

 brid queen will produce hyl)rid 

 drones in all cases, and under all 

 circumstances. And I am inclined 

 to the belief that a pure blooded 

 queen, that has mated with a drone 

 of another race, will also produce 

 hybrid drones. 



Notwithstanding the fact that 

 an unmated queen can lay eggs 

 that will produce drones only, 

 while a mated queen can at will 

 lay either drone, or worker eggs, 

 it does not necessarily follow as 

 an indisputable sequence that the 

 drone progeny is not affected by 

 the impregnation of the mother 

 bee. This, I believe, is a contro- 

 verted question, even among the 

 best authorities, and, " wiien doc- 

 tors disagree, who shall decide?" 



ANSWER BY J. E. POND. 



If Mr. Quigley will read the lit- 

 tle book of "Berlepsch," called the 



