£90 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOtmiSTAL. 



Sept. 14, 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Origin of Drones— Parthenogenesis. 



DR. WM. K. HOWARD. 



Mr. C. J. Robinson, in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal of March 23 anil 

 Aug. 24, has made some deductions on 

 his new drone theory. lie denies par- 

 thenogenesis as being a fact in na- 

 ture, and considers it a hypothetical 

 doctrine, etc. Let us fully under- 

 stand the subject under consideration, 

 and then see how far Mr. R.goes with 

 us. Fust, let us see what can be 

 proven in regard to parthenogenesis, 

 and secondly, apply it to his drone 

 theory. Let us take up tirst for con- 

 sideration, bisexual animals, examine 

 them, and compare them with com- 

 mencing at the egg. 



According to Prof. II. J. Clark 

 (Mind in Mature), an egg is a globule 

 surrounded by the vitelline mem- 

 brane, or yolk envelope, which is pro 

 tected by the chorion, or egg shell 

 consisting of two kinds of fluid, albu- 

 men and oil, which are always situa- 

 ted at opposite sides or poles. 



"In the earliest stages of all eggs, 

 these two poles shade off into each 

 oilier," but in the perfectly developed 

 egg, the small, or albuminous pole, is 

 surrounded by a membrane, and forms 

 the Purkinjean (germinal) vesicle; 

 and thirdly, and last, the innermost 

 of the three globules is developed 

 This last is the Wagnerian vesicle, or 

 germinal dot. The oily matter forms 

 the yolk. Thus formed, the egg is the 

 initial animal. It becomes an egg af- 

 ter contact with the male germs (un- 

 less the product of organic reproduc- 

 tion), and the egg-shell, or chorion, i.-. 

 to be considered as a protection to 

 the animal, and is thrown off when 

 the embryo is hatched, just as the lar 

 va throws off its skin to transform into 

 a pupa. So that the egg state is 

 equivalent to the larva state, and 

 hence there are 4 stages in the life ol 

 an insect— the egg. the larva, the 

 pupa, and the imago or perfect insect. 

 On the anterior end (though some- 

 times at both ends of the egg), is one 

 or more pores, or micropyles, of ex- 

 ceeding minuteness, through which 

 the spermatozoa (more than one ol 

 which, according to Darwin, is requi- 

 site to fertilize an ovule), enter to ler- 

 tilize the egg contents. In some cases 

 these micropyles are scattered over 

 the whole surface of the egg. This 

 contact of a male sperm-cell with the 

 yolk is the .fertilization of the egg. 

 From this moment begins the life of 

 the embryo. 



Fertilization of the female germ by 

 means of the male sperm, through the 

 congress of the sexes, is the rule with 

 bisexual animals, but there are ex- 

 ceptions among insects. An embryo 

 may start into being without the in- 

 terposition of the male; to this mode 

 of generation, has been applied by 

 Leuckart, the term pwiliennyenesis. 



Packard says: ••Among certain 

 species of insects, there are some in- 

 dividuals which, by a sort of budding 

 process, and without the aid of the 

 male element, throw off summer 

 broods, consisting of " asexual " indi- 

 viduals, which, as winter approaches, 

 are succeeded by a brood of true males 

 and females, the latter of which laj 

 eggs." 



This phenomenon, called by Steen- 

 strup •'alternation of generations." 

 has been observed among a compara- 

 tively few species. The individuals 

 in whom this budding process lakes 

 place are called "asexual," because, 

 though they may resemble the female 

 sex outwardly, their sexual organs are 

 only partially developed. This bud- 

 ding is the same in kind with that ob- 

 servable in the jelly-lish, which throw 

 off by parthenogenesis or alterna- 

 tions of generations, summer broods 

 of immense extent, but in winter 

 propagate by true eggs. 



Huxley has studied the develop- 

 ment of aphis by parthenogenesis, 

 the anomalous nature of which had 

 previously been discovered by Bon- 

 net, Trembly, Lyonet, Degeer.'Kyber 

 and others, and arrives at the follow- 

 ing conclusions: 



1. Ova deposited by impregnated 

 female aphides in autumn, are hatched 

 in the spring. 



2. From these ova viviparous, and, 

 in a great majority of cases, apterous 

 forms proceed. 



3. The broods to which these give 

 rise are either winged or apterous, or 

 both. 



4. The number of successive broods 

 has no certain limit, but is, so far as 

 we know at present, controlled only 

 by temperature and the supply of 

 lood. 



5. On the setting in of cold weather, 

 or in some cases on the failure ol 

 nourishment, the weather being still 

 warm, males and oviparous females 

 are produced. 



6. The males may be either winged 

 or apterous. 



7. So far as I am aware, there is no 

 proof of the existence of any exception 

 to the law that the oviparous female 

 is apterous. 



8. Viviparous aphides may hyber- 

 uate, and co-exist with oviparous fe- 

 males of the same species.— (Linnrcan 

 Transactions, xxii, page 198). 



The origin of the viviparous, asex- 

 ual or agamic (from the Greek o. 

 without; </«?»?, marriage) individual. 

 as it may be more properly called, is 

 up to a certain stage the same as that 

 of the true egg. i. c, until the germ 

 (pseudovum) of the former is de- 

 tached from the false ovary (pseudo- 

 varinm). "From this point onwards, 

 however, the fate of pseudovum isdif- 

 t'erent from that of the ovum. The 

 former begins at once to be converted 

 into the genu ; the latter accumulates 

 yolk substance, and changes but lit- 

 tle. Both bodies acquire their mem- 

 branous investmentratherlate; within 

 it the pseudovum becomes a living 

 larva, while the ovum is impreg- 

 nated, laid, and remains in a state of 

 rest for a longer or shorter period." — 

 (Huxley). 



Siebold has also shown that the ova 

 of the queen-bee produces females or 

 males, according as they are fecunda- 

 ted or not. The fecundated ovum 

 produces a queen or neuter (worker), 

 according to the food of the larva, 

 and the other conditions to which it is 

 subjected; the uufecundated ovum 

 produces a drone. This is analogous 

 lo the agamic reproduction of aphis, 

 and demonstrates still more clearly 

 the impossibility of drawing any abso- 

 lute line of demarcation, histologi- 

 cally between ova and buds. 



This method of reproduction occurs 

 among mites, isolated genera of hein- 

 iplera, and also several species of lep- 

 idoptera have been known to lay fer- 

 tile eggs without previous sexual 

 union. Ami the late and lamented 

 Benjamin D. Walsh, of Illinois, ob- 

 served a species of hymennpterous 

 gall-fly to lay fertile eggs without pre- 

 vious sexual union. 



Nicholas Wagner, and also Dr. 

 Leuckart have observed an asexual 

 reproduction in the larvte of certain 

 dipterous Hies. 



"Parthenogenesis or agamic repro- 

 duction, is then." says Packard, "the 

 result of a budding process, or cell 

 growth. Metamorphosis is simply a 

 series of m. irked stages, or periods of 

 growth ; and hence growth, metamor- 

 phosis and ag;iinic reproduction, are 

 morphologically identical. All ani- 

 mals, therefore, as well as plants, 

 grow by the multiplication of cells." 



We. have given abundant proof of 

 the fact that agamic, or asexual indi- 

 viduals occur in several natural or- 

 ders of insects, and might cile the 

 reader to cases where experiments 

 carried on in a practical and satisfac- 

 tory manner, proved beyond a doubt 

 that parthenogenesis was an estab- 

 lished fact in nature, but we deem it 

 unnecessary. 



In Mr. R's theory of queen-produc- 

 ing, i. e., workers impregnating the 

 larva with drone semen, etc., in order 



to give the proper elements of the 

 queen, we consider it unimportant 

 and even unnecessary, and lacking 

 proof ; also the manner of producing 

 fertile workers, that is, " fecundating" 

 the "ovary" of the worker through 

 the digestive organs, etc., not only ab- 

 surd, hut contrary to any other rules 

 or laws of physiology. His method of 

 hybridizing— he says, "It is ascer- 

 tained that the embryo drone, work- 

 ers and queen, can each be hybridized 

 in the ovary, egg, or larva state, 

 which is communicated to the whole 

 production. I think the evidence con- 

 clusive in the reproduction of the 

 queen." 



Here we again are compelled to dif- 

 fer with our friend, and call for the 

 "evidence." 



In his article of Aug. 15, page 268 9, 

 in the Ajieuican Bee Journal, he 

 challenges Prof. Cook to produce one 

 intelligent apiarist, not barring him- 

 self, to explain and prove, beyond a 

 doubt, that drones originate by par- 

 thenogenesis. 



Now, since parthenogenesis, or a 

 gamic reproduction is the production 

 of living individuals, without the ac- 

 tual congress of the sexes, he is com- 

 pelled to admit the production of 

 drones by parthenogenesis. In con- 

 clusion we will quote : "No intelligent 

 scientist will confess that he, in mat- 

 ters pertaining to any science, pins 

 his faith upon some one, or some few 

 observations of his own, and say that 

 others are non-intelligent who are not 



of the same faith 

 ike Ephraiiu of 



If Mr. R. 



old, "joined 



idols," he will have to give in. 

 Kingston, Texas. 



not 

 the 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Visit to Mr. Jones' Bee Islands. 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



To save needless encroachment on 

 the crowded and valuable space of 

 the American Bee Journal, let 

 me ask readers of this article to look 

 at a map of Canada, and note the 

 geography of the Georgian Bay, almost 

 a duplicate of Lake Huron, and lying 

 eastward of that vast body of fresh 

 water. 



The port of Collingwood should be 

 marked on the map, but if not, let it 

 be observed that it lies at the south- 

 erly point of the bay. It is 40 miles 

 from Beeton where Mr. Jones carries 

 on his home apiaries. The Hamilton 

 & North Western R. R. connects Bee- 

 ton and Collingwood. There is a 

 daily steamboat communication be- 

 tween Collingwood and Parry Sound, 

 76 miles to the north, during the sea- 

 son of open navigation. Parry Sound 

 is an important lumbering point, and 

 the centre of it new and rising agri- 

 cultural district. The route between 

 Collingwood and Parry Sound is 

 through an archipelago of islands, vary- 

 ing in size from a dining-table to 

 several miles in extent. These Is- 

 lands are unsurveyed and unsettled. 

 Very few of them are of any agricul- 

 tural value. 



Mr. Jones has pre-empted 3of them, 

 and established a great national and 

 continental queen-bee breeding estab- 

 lishment on them. They are called 

 respectively, Palestine. Cyprus, and 

 Italy Island. There are no wild or 

 domesticated bees in all this region, 

 except those transported there by Mr. 

 Jones, for the good and sufficient rea- 

 son that there is not a flora sutlicient 

 to sustain a colony of bees. Hence it 

 is the beau ideal of a queen-breeding 

 locality. The 3 islands chosen by Mr. 

 Jones are 6 to 8 miles apart, so that 

 intermixture of the races is impossi- 

 ble, unless done on purpose. 



THE MODUS OPERANDI. 



Palestine Island, 16 miles from 

 Parry Sound, is the headquarters of 

 this business. The steamers pass 

 close to a point Of this island, which 

 makes it convenient for shipment. 

 On each of the islands there is a little 

 village of nuclei, with a few lull-sized 

 hives, containing chiefly drones. 

 Queen cells are raised at Beeton. All 

 are started in crowded colonies. The 



young queens are cut out just as they 

 are about to gnaw themselves free 

 from the cells. As soon as they are 

 fairly hatched, they are put into Peet 

 cages with some companion bees, and 

 shipped to Palestine Island. A num- 

 ber are sent in full colonies, needed to 

 replenish the nuclei, and a small pro- 

 portion are raised on ihe island. 

 These last are exceptionably good, 

 owing to constant feeding of the large 

 colonies, which are kept at swarming 

 point, but prevented from swarming 

 by constant removal of queens. As 

 soon as the young queens are mated, 

 and commence laying, they are re- 

 caged, sent back to Beeton, usually 

 again introduced to colonies, and al- 

 lowed to lay until shipped ; hence they 

 generally go through 2 probations as 

 to laying. As to the extent of the 

 operations carried on, there are about 

 122 nuclei on Palestine Island, about 

 75 on Cyprus Island, and 50 or 60 on 

 Italy Island. 



MAGNITUDE OF THIS UNDERTAKING. 



I had no idea until I visited these 

 islands, how formidable an affair the 

 enterprise was. About 200 full colo- 

 nies of bees have been sent here, thus 

 far the present summer, and it will 

 take another 100 before the season is 

 over. All experienced bee-keepers 

 know what a great mortality there is 

 among bees, and how short-lived they 

 are during the busy part of the year. 

 To the ordinary causes for this, there 

 must be added here, the prevalence of 

 high winds, and the proximity of wa- 

 ter. Whirls of wind carry the bees 

 into the water, and the losses from a 

 variety of sources are so great, that 

 sometimes nuclei have to be renewed 

 every 2 or 3 days. Quite a percentage 

 of queens are also lost. 



This fact raises the question whether 

 they do not lower themselves to the 

 ground in the act of mating, and amid 

 the whirl of excitement, find them- 

 selves in the aqueous element, before 

 they are aware of it. Five men are 

 constantly err. ployed in carrying on this 

 business. One skilled bee-keeper can 

 tend the nuclei and colonies on all 3 

 islands, but he must be wailed on by 

 an expert sailor, capable of making 

 voyages to the islands, whether the 

 wind be high or low, fair or foul. A 

 sailing yacht is run when there is 

 wind, and a row-boat used when it is 

 calm. 



These are stormy waters; a squall 

 is liable to arise at any time; one 

 struck us when yaching to Italy Is- 

 land, which came within an ace of 

 capsizing us, and only an experienced 

 navigator could manage this part of 

 the work. 



At Beeton, 1 man does nothing but 

 raise queens; 2 others are busily 

 enough employed making cages, and 

 nuclei packing and shipping. Every 

 trip to the islands and back costs $6, 

 ami the daily expressage amounts to a 

 considerable sum. The bees on the 

 islands gather but very little, and it 

 takes no small amount of honey and 

 syrup to feed them. Bees don't work 

 for nothing and board themselves on 

 these Islands, " by a jug full," rather, 

 by a great many barrels full. 



The miscellaneous expenses for ma- 

 terial and supplies foot up a large bill. 



DOES IT PAY? 



Not in money at present lam well 

 convinced that Mr. Jones could have 

 made more profit by keeping these 300 

 colonies of bees at his home apiary, 

 and running tiiem for honey and in- 

 crease. But this thing is only in its 

 infancy, as yet. Its importance will 

 grow in the estimation of all intelli- 

 gent bee-keepers. 



We talk about tested queens. But 

 it is all moonshine ; as well talk of tes- 

 ted mares, cows, or ewes. All good 

 stock-breeders know that we must 

 have pedigree as well as points. There 

 must Toe some guarantee of purity as 

 to breeding. I have seen the first 

 cross of highly pre-potent males, that 

 gave cattle irreproachable as to points. 

 But for want of pedigree, the next 

 generation would hark back toward 

 common stock. It will be so in re- 

 gard to bees. The mix of new races 

 has done immense good, but in the 



