35(X THE PHILOSOPHY 



ftate ; tliat the organs which diftinguifh the fex, and parti-^^ 

 cularly the ovaria, are either obUterated, or, on account oi 

 their minutenefs, have not hitherto been difcovered ; that, 

 in the early period of its exiftence, every one of thefe bees is- 

 capable of becoming a queen-bee, if the community choofe 

 to nurfe it in a certain manner, and to raife it to that dif- 

 tinguifhed rank ; and that the queen-bee lays only two kinds- 

 of eggs, namely, thoie that are to produce drones or males, 

 and thofe from which the working bees are to proceed. 



The conje6lure of Maraldi concerning the impregnation of 

 tl>e eggs after they are depofited in the cells, as well as the 

 obfervations of Mr. Schirach concerning the fex of the work- 

 ing bees, have been completely verified by the experiments 

 ©f Mr. Debraw^ Both Maraldi and Reaumur had long ago 

 difcovered, that, in every hive, befide the large drones, there 

 are males or drones as fmall as the working bees. By means 

 of glafs -hives, Mr.Debraw obferved, that the queen-bee begins 

 to depofit her eggs in the cells on the fourth or fifth day af- 

 ter the bees begin to work. On the firft or fecond day af- 

 ter the eggs are placed in the cells, he perceived feveral bees 

 finking the poflerior parts of their bodies into each cell, 

 where they continued but a fhort time. After they had re- 

 tired, he faw plainly with the naked eye a fiiiall quantity of 

 whitifh liquor left in the bottom of each cell that contained 

 an egg. Next day he found that this liquor was abforbed in- 

 to the egg, which, on the fourth day, is hatched. When 

 the worms efcape from the 6ggs, they are fed for eight or 

 ten days with honey by the working bees. After that pe- 

 riod they fliut up the mouths of the cells, where the worms 

 continue inclofed for ten days more, during which time they 

 undergo their different transformations. 



* I immerfed,' fays Mr. Debraw, « all the bees in water ^ 

 < and, when they appeared to be in a fenfelefs ftate, I gently 

 « prefled every one of them between ti\j fingers, in order tc? 



