AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



139 



Queries mrd Replies. 



Mertilizei Queens anfl Drone-Ens. 



Query 829.— If the eggs of unfertilized 

 queens produce drones, from what source do 

 those eggs derive their vitality ?— Tennessee. 



I do not know. — E. France. 

 From the queen. — M. Mahin. 

 From the mother. — C. C. Miller. 

 From the Creator. — Eugene Secoe. 

 From their " ma." — James Heddon. 

 From the queen. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 I give it up. Ask something easy. — 



C. H. DlBBERN. 



From the queen, the same as all eggs 

 do.— A. B. Mason. 



I am not posted, but I should say the 

 queen. — G. M. Doolittle. 



I will leave this for Prof. Cook to an- 

 swer. — Mrs. J. N. Heater. 



From the queen, of course. From 

 what other source could they ? — R. L. 

 Taylor. 



According to the Dzierzonian theory 

 of parthenogenesis, from the queen. 

 There is still room here for scientific in- 

 vestigation. — J. P. H. Brown. 



This takes the "wind all out of my 

 sails." When you determine in what 

 way the life-germ is retained in the egg 

 after being parted from its mother, you 

 will be on your road to an intelligent 

 solution. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



From the ovaries of the queen. We 

 now know that eggs from many insects 

 are fertile without fecundation. The 

 eggs of bees are so, and in developing 

 when unfecundated always produce 

 drone or male bees. — A. J. Cook. 



There is no "if " about it, for it is a 

 fact. It is a law of nature, which has 

 been called " parthenogenesis " by the 

 scientists, and it must be that the 

 vitality comes from the mother. It is 

 queer, but it is so. — Dadant & Son. 



It appears to be a law througout Na- 

 ture in reproduction, that the inherent 

 vital principles of the female are pre- 

 potent in developing male offspring, 

 while the male possesses prepotent power 

 in producing female offspring. In the 



union of the vital principles of the male 

 and female, the state of development of 

 the ovum at the time the union occurs 

 has more to do with the development of 

 sex than any other factor — the male 

 principle being prepotent only when the 

 ovum first matures. At a late stage of 

 its maturity the progress towards the 

 development of a male has so far ad- 

 vanced that the union with the male 

 elements has no longer power to deter- 

 mine sex, but simply to vivify. Thus 

 proving that in mammals the ovum 

 comes very near the point of generation 

 without the male elements, as there is 

 at least progress in the evolution of a 

 male, while in certain insects the unfer- 

 tilized ovum invariably develops a male. 

 — G. L. Tinker. 



Read up the subject of " partheno- 

 genesis," and all will be explained. The 

 little book of " Dzierzon," explains the 

 matter, as regards honey-bees ; but the 

 works of an entomologist will do the 

 same, and also in regard to other insects 

 that breed in the same manner. Par- 

 thenogenesis, as it relates to wasps, is 

 as peculiar as to the " apis mellifica." — 

 J. E. Pond. 



I think it would take a full column of 

 the Bee Journal for me to explain my- 

 self on this question. But the eggs 

 seem to derive their vitality from the 

 queen alone, this being one of Nature's 

 freaks. It is said by some of our grand- 

 parents in bee-culture, that the drone of 

 a pure Italian queen is not touched by 

 the mating of the queen to a black 

 drone, but if it were not ill manners for 

 a child to dispute grandpa, I would say 

 differently.— Mrs. Jennie Atchley. 



There is no " if" about it. The word 

 "unfertilized" or "unfertile," when 

 applied to the queen honey-bee, means 

 that she has not met the maie. This is 

 the sense in which these words are used 

 in all bee-literature, if the writer under- 

 stands himself. Virgin queen honey- 

 bees possess the singular function — or 

 vitality, if you please— that enables them 

 to produce male progeny ; that is all we 

 know about it. I could give you some 

 nice "theory," but the facts as to the 

 source of " vitality " are beyond my 

 grasp. — G. W. Demaree. 



The Dzierzon theory of parthenogene- 

 sis explains the fact so thoroughly that 

 there remains no question about it — no 

 place for an " if." The eggs of unfer- 

 tilized queens will produce drones, and 

 drones only. The source of vitality is 

 the queen, Nature or God. — Editors. 



