476 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 8 



best adapted for obeervation, could only apsert, that 

 something like an indistinct and transient junction 

 had taken place belbre them. Others, aunin, vviih 

 with all the assiduiiy, care, and atieiiiion they 

 were able to command, could see nothing oC the 

 kind; and tUence inferred, that the queen was a 

 real tiermaplirodile, which in ilsell' possessed the 

 generative powers of both sexes combined. A 

 third class, where we are surprised the name ol' 

 Swammerdam should appear, ascribed the impreg- 

 nation ol" the queen to a certain aura emanating 

 Irom the bodies of the n)ales, which must neces- 

 sarily be numerous, in order that it may have sufR- 

 cient. power; and a few observers conceived, that 

 external fecundation of the eggs took place alter 

 being deposited in the cell, in the same way as the 

 generation of frogs and fishes is effected. But, 

 on the other hand, young were found in hives 

 provided with queens, though entirely desliiute of 

 males. They were seen in sprhig long before 

 males begin to exist, and in winter alter the whole 

 are destroyed ; and an experhnent by Hattorf 

 evinced the aversion of queen to drones, rather 

 than an aflection for them. He took two virgin 

 queens from their cells, and confined each, along 

 with two drones taken from the same hive, under 

 a glass vessel. One of the drones having ap- 

 proached a queen, was seized by her, and killed 

 on the spot; and (he other did exactly alike with 

 one of her companions; the tv.'o remaining drones 

 escaped. This experiment, on frequent repetition 

 presented similar results ; and t!ie variety of de- 

 vices to ascertain the fhct, were attended with 

 consequences which served still more and more to 

 perplex the observer. At length, however, the 

 truth seems to be disclosed, and we shall briefly 

 advert (o the methods adopleJ for the purpose ol 

 discovering it. 



M. Huber of Genava, one of the most intelli- 

 gent authors who have written on this subject, 

 finding the experiments of all former naturalists 

 unsatisfactory, reiTioved the whole reigning fe- 

 males from a number of hives, and substituted for 

 each a queen taken at the moment she came to 

 maturity. He then divided the hives into two 

 classes; and have removed all the drones from 

 those of the first class, he adapted a glass tube to 

 the entrance so narrow that no drone could pass, 

 but large enough to admit common bees. The 

 whole drones were allowed to remain in the hives 

 of the second class, and more were even intro- 

 duced. A glass lube, also, too small for their exit, 

 tliough of sufficient capacity for common bees, 

 was likewise adapted to the entiancc of the hives. 

 This experiment was carefully made; and, to the 

 author's great sur|)rifce, all the (juecns remained 

 steril; thus f)roving, that a female confined to 

 her hive would continue barren wliile amidst a se- 

 raglio of males. 



The. result of successive experiments, diversi- 

 fied in every possible manner, and made with 

 much skill and indefatigable labor, proved, that 

 the generation of bees is effected by the union of 

 »he sexes, as in most other species ol insects, and 

 the larger terrestrial animals. But it is never in 

 the interior of the hive that it takes |)lac.\ The 

 queen, to accomplish it, must issue forth from her 

 dwelling-^lhe only occasion, except one, on which 

 she leaves it; and although her junction with the 

 drone has not yet been witnessed by human eyes, 

 it is supposed to happen high in the air. In illus- 



trating the generation of bees, the author whom 

 we have already named concluded, that if queens 

 were obliged to go out for impregnation, it would 

 be at the warmest time of the day, as the males 

 then leave the hive. On the 29th of June, a hive, 

 containing a virgin queen five days old, was made 

 the sidiject of observation. The sun had shone 

 li'om his rising; the air was very warm; and, at 

 eleven in the Ibrenoon, the males began to leave 

 the neighboring hives. The entrance of the one 

 containing the queen was then enlarged, and the 

 bees entering and departing narrowly observed. 

 The males appeared, and imincdiately took flight; 

 and soon afterwards the young queen came to the 

 entrance. Before quitting the hoard, she trriversed 

 it, and brushed her belly with her hind leg?:, du- 

 ring which she received no attention either from 

 the males or workers. Taking flight, she again 

 approached the hive, as if to examine the place 

 of her departure, that she might recognize it. 

 Next, describing circles ten or twelve I'eei above 

 the surflice of the earth, she rapidly rose in the 

 air, and was soon out of sight. The observer and 

 an assistant hastened to contract the entrance of 

 the hive, and in seven minutes the young queen 

 returned. No external marks of fecundation 

 being visible, she was allowed to enter the hive. 

 In a quarter of an hour she came to the entrance, 

 and brushing herself as belbre, took flight. Re- 

 turning to examine the hive, she departed, rising 

 so high that the observers soon lost sight ol" her. 

 Twenty-seven minutes elapsed before her second 

 excursion terminated; but now she was in a very 

 diflerent condition from that in which she appeared 

 after the first; for sheexhibi'ed the most unequivo- 

 cal evidence of sexual union, by bringing along 

 with her the genital organs of the male by which 

 she had been impregnated. And here a vvonder- 

 ful deviation from the ordinary laws of nature en- 

 sues; the male loses his organs in copulation, and 

 thus sacrifices his own life in perpetuating his 

 race. In two days the belly of the queen was 

 swollen; and, on investigation, she proved to have 

 laid nearly an hundred eggs in the workers' cells. 

 For some reason, which is unknown to us, ihe 

 sexual union cannot be accomplished in the hive; 

 and the object of the queen's departure being once 

 fulfilled, she never again leaves it unless to con- 

 duct a swarm. 



Forty-sis hours aftei' impregnation tlie queen 

 begins laying eggs, which will become workers; 

 and, provided impregnation takes place within the 

 first twenty days of her existence, thousands are 

 produced uninterruptedly during the feucceeding 

 eleven months. Then she commences laying eggs 

 which will be drones. But should matters be 

 otherwise arranged; should her impregnation, 

 either from constraint or accident, be delayed more 

 than twenty days beyond her own complete me- 

 tamorphosis, a singular alteration takes [ilace. 

 She begins laying within forty-six hours of its oc- 

 currence, but no eggs excepting those from which 

 drones proceed; nor will she lay any other kind dur- 

 ing her whole life. A nice and difficult problem 

 thence arises, which analogy does not aid us to 

 solve. How is the order of nature so completely 

 inverted by retarded impregnation? The eggs 

 producing males require, in the natural state, ele- 

 ven months to attain maturity; but, under the ef- 

 fects of this accidental occurrence, they reach per- 

 fection in Ibrty-six iiours. Those eggs which 



