AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



753 



Can the Qiiecn-Bcc Establish the 

 Sex of Her Offspring; at Wiil ? 



Written for the American Bee Joumxxl 



BY J. F. LATHAM. 



What constitutes "will power" ap- 

 pears to be the basis on which problems 

 like the above depend for a solution, 

 and the question seems barren of indi- 

 cators that would lead the investigator 

 to grasp the subject firmly, unless he 

 can, at the onset, decide that point — 

 what the implied "will power" is, in 

 fact. 



If the queen-bee can determine the 

 sex of her progeny in embryo, while de- 

 positing her ova, would it not be rea- 

 sonable to infer that all ovaviporous 

 animals possess a corresponding faculty? 



The sexes in fowls of all kinds are 

 more or less intermingled. The same 

 principle of analogy is characterized in 

 the bisexual distribution of the progeny 

 of the viviparous species. It is seldom 

 that a litter of pups, kittens or pigs are 

 of one gender. Twin calves, or lambs, 

 are often of both sexes. In instances of 

 the quadrupeds named, can an obvious 

 reason exist on which to base an opin- 

 ion, that the "will power" is less potent 

 in the distribution of the sexual qualifi- 

 cations than what may be exercised by 

 the queen-bee 9 



The molecular influences, which are 

 stimulated to activity during the act of 

 deposition by the queen-bee, seem to be 

 uniform in their specialty in all stages 

 of organic life, whether displayed in the 

 cosmic elements which surround our 

 planet, the flowers of the fields and 

 groves, the finny tribes, or man. The 

 strongest desires predominate. That 

 the forces that generate the sexes, so 

 termed, are not mechanical, and there- 

 fore undefinable in the present state of 

 knowledge, is evident. "With this point 

 in view, it would be rational to assume 

 the partially metaphysical position that 

 thought, or will power, must be a result 

 of the molecular action of the brain. 



Holding this view of the subject. It 

 would seem a reasonable extension of 

 the supposition that the impetus result- 

 ing from a concentration of the positive 

 and negative forces (the true propagat- 

 ing agencies in nature) would exercise 

 its relative strength like an electric 

 flash, and stamp its offspring with its 

 dominant desires, so to speak. 



There appears to exist no perceptible 

 evidence that a queen-bee exercises fore- 

 thought preparatory to a change from 

 fecundated to unfecundated ova, as she 

 will change from worker-cells to drone- 

 cells, and vice -uersa, on the same comb 

 when she meets them, without percepti- 

 ble hesitation, or being in the least re- 

 tarded in her avocation. 



Often a drone-cell containing a live 

 drone in the imago stage of develop- 

 ment, may be found in the body of a 

 comb, isolated from its kind, and sur- 

 rounded by a compact mass of capped 

 worker-brood. Although what has just 

 been said may not perhaps be a strictly 

 conclusive demonstration of " will 

 power," still it presents very strong evi- 

 dence that would tend to support an ad- 

 mission that the queen, while depositing 

 the isolated ovum from which the drone 

 hatched, had absolute control of the 

 spermatozoon. 



It further evinces that the generative 

 mechanism of the queen must be very 

 nicely adjusted to operate with such a 

 degree of certainty. But notwithstand- 

 ing the delicacy of the act, an opening 

 is presented for the entrance of a mild 

 protest ; for, with all the certainty with 

 which acts of the denizens of the hive, 

 and especially the progenitor, are cred- 

 ited, the lone son of the mother may 

 have been the result of a deranged ef- 

 fort. But whatever may have been the 

 ruling cause of the phenomenon, if such 

 it may be termed, it presents a rich 

 theme for thoughtful observation. 



So infinitesimal are the seminal fila- 

 ments that, on contemplation, one 

 would be led to doubt the accomplish- 

 ment of a separation so complete in its 

 requirements as the sexual change de- 

 mands. That it is accomplished, with 

 its qualifying degree of certainty, there 

 is no chance for a doubt. 



Here, although the question is a much- 

 mooted one, it may be asked, may not 

 the nurse-bees have something to do 

 with the sexual qualifications by operat- 

 ing on the ova after they are deposited 

 in the cells ? Although the query may be 

 barred the decision of positive science, 

 still there appears to be a reasonable 

 chance for believing that they do possess 

 the pow-er to change the sex in the , 



