278 



THE AMERICA]^ BEE JOURNAL. 



contents of the generative organs of 

 imago drones upon the pupa queens. 

 The sides of the cells were then 

 replaced and sealed witk melted bees- 

 wax and resin. These cells were 

 placed in nursery cages and hatched 

 in queenless nuclei colonies. These 

 queens were liberated in nuclei 

 colonies after their wings were clipped. 

 Upon being hatched they resembled 

 fecundated laying queens more than 

 virgin queens. The treatment they 

 received from the bees and their 

 action upon the combs was that of 

 fecundated rather tlian that of virgin 

 queens. Eepeated experiments, how- 

 ever, failed to produce a queen 

 capable of laying fecundated eggs. 

 Still, the fact that the treatment 

 given the embryo queens had to such 

 an extent changed their physiological 

 characteristics was suggestive. From 

 the analogy between the animal and 

 vegetable kingdom, where ripe seed is 

 known to grow better than unripe, 

 it seemed more than probable that 

 the contents of the generative organs 

 of a mature drone would have more 

 virility than those of a drone larva or 

 pupa. 



That the active principle in the 

 fluid contained in the procreative 

 organs of the drones attains a degree 

 of activity at a very early stage in 

 their development, is evident from 

 the effect produced by exposing the 

 larval queens to its influence. Con- 

 tinuing the experiment I caused more 

 queen cells to be built. Removing 

 the testes and seminal sac from 

 mature drones with a pair of pliers, 

 the conteuts were pressed upon the 

 larval queens. The bees removed the 

 uncapped larvae as before. Most of 

 the pupa queens so treated and placed 

 in nursery cages for hatching died in 

 the cell after assuming the imago 

 state and after being partly colored. 

 I hope to be able yet to discover what 

 principles and' practice are essential 

 to success, which seems possible, for 

 many possible opportunities remain 

 untried. While possessing possibil- 

 ities of the greatest interest and value 

 to the embrjologist and entomologist, 

 it is doubtful whetber ademonstrated 

 method of what may be called par- 

 thenogenetical fecundation would 

 possess the essentials of certainty and 

 permanence in such a degree as to 

 make the method serviceable to bee- 

 keepers. It remains to be tried 

 whether a sufficient number of active 

 spermatozoa may be received into 

 the spermatheca of queens while in 

 the larva, pupa or imago state to 

 render them serviceable for any prac- 

 ticable purpose, even if some of the 

 reported successes were true. Failing 

 to succeed by these methods it appears 

 more reasonable that the best time to 

 fecundate a queen is when she w-ants 

 to be fecundated, or when orgasm 

 appears. Orgasm takes place in from 

 five to seven days, usually in five days 

 after the queen leaves the cell, and 

 continues for eight or ten days, and a 

 few instances are reported where 

 queens have been fertilized as late as 

 twenty-three days after leaving the 

 cell. 



When orgasm takes place the gener- 

 ative organs of the queen are highly 



excited and much distended. I con- 

 fined a queenless colony in their hive 

 and gave them a queen-cell which 

 had not been disturbed while matur- 

 ing, and allowed the queen to hatch. 

 When the virgin queen was six days 

 old orgasm occurred, and on the even- 

 ing of the seventh day I removed 

 her from the hive and placed drops of 

 the male sperm upon the open vulva 

 as she was held, back downwards, by 

 gently grasping the thorax between 

 the thumb and forefinger. The instant 

 the male sperm was pressed from the 

 testes and seminal sac of a mature 

 drone upon the excited and distended 

 vulva, it was curious to observe the 

 effect. The actiou of the abdomen 

 and vulva resembled that of young 

 birds while being fed- There was the 

 reaching up after the seminal fluid, 

 and an action of the parts resembling 

 the opening of the mouth and swal- 

 lowing food. As much seminal fluid 

 as could be obtained, by theimperfect 

 method employed, from three or four 

 drones, was utilized and readily 

 absorbed by the queen, after which 

 her wing was clipped and she was 

 dropped on a frame covered with bees 

 and returned to the hive and the 

 bees were liberated. Up to this time 

 her appearance and action was that 

 of a virgin queen. The next morning, 

 12 hours after exposure to the sem- 

 inal fluid, her abdomen was distended 

 and her appearance and action in all 

 respects was that common to fertile, 

 laying queens. She was moving 

 about slowly over the combs and 

 peering into the cells, and 24 hours 

 afterward she had 400 or 500 eggs in 

 worker cells. I watched the devel- 

 opment of larvae from those eggs. In 

 due time worker larva? appeared, and 

 at this date, November 13, worker 

 bees in considerable numbers are be- 

 ing hatched. I then reared two 

 queens from the eggs laid by this 

 artificially fecundated queen, in 

 queenless colonies, and as soon as 

 they were hatched I clipped their 

 wings, and when orgasm appeared 

 they were treated as before described, 

 and in three days one laid a few eggs 

 in worker cells. The other has the 

 appearance and action of a fertile 

 queen, but has laid no eggs, and the 

 lateness of the season forbids advan- 

 tageous continuance of the experi- 

 ments. 



Fully realizing the necessity for 

 exactness and certainty in all details, 

 before tabulating the results of any 

 method so revolutionary, I have 

 endeavored to effectually guard 

 against all possibility of the test being 

 abortive. Instances have been 

 reported where fecundation had taken 

 place in the hive ; but as many exam- 

 inations proved tliat there were no 

 drones in these hives, and judging 

 from the lateness of the season and 

 severity of the weather, probably 

 none in the country, except a few 

 which had been preserved in a queen- 

 less nucleus colony by frequently 

 feeding the bees and confining them 

 in the hive, and from the further fact 

 that the experiments were conducted 

 when few bees at any time attempted 

 to leave the hive, and from the fact 

 that these queens" wings were clipped 



when they were removed from the 

 nursery cage, we can confidently 

 assert that fecundation by the natural 

 method did not take place. These 

 later experiments in fecundation 

 have been conducted through 

 the months of October and 

 November, during the prevalence of 

 most unpropitious weather, and those 

 acquainted with the liabits and 

 instinct of bees will understand the 

 difficulties under which I have had to 

 labor. With the return of spring and 

 the advantageous conditions attend- 

 ing the normal season for breeding, 

 and after discovering and adopting 

 better methods and devices for appro- 

 priating and depositing the seminal 

 Huid, 1 am hopeful that the fecund- 

 ation of queen bees may be controlled 

 with the same ease and certainty as 

 fecundation is regulated among all 

 domestic animals, and that the pedi- 

 gree of the breeding stock in the 

 apiaiy will be as readily traced and 

 as highly valued as is "the recorded 

 pedigree of the illustrious scions of 

 the turf, and the aristocratic families 

 of the American Herd Book. 



I regret that the lateness of the 

 season prevents the further continu- 

 ance of these tests now, as I fully 

 appreciate the necessity of placing 

 the evidence in support of the facts 

 set forth on the incontestable basis 

 of continued and often repeated suc- 

 cesses, and not upon the success 

 obtained in two individual cases. 

 However, the fact that I have suc- 

 ceeded in producing queen bees of two 

 generations which have by artificial 

 means been made to perform the 

 normal functions of naturally fecun- 

 dated queens, seems to furnish ground 

 to hope that this subject has passed 

 from the plane of experiment to the 

 position of practicability. Other 

 methods for controlling fecundation 

 also remain to be tested. 



U. 8. Apicultural Sta., Aurora, 111. 



For tbe Amerlcaa Bee JoumaL 



Emerifflents in f iiitering Bees. 



MAHALA li. CHADDOCK. 



I examined my bees yesterday, took 

 off the chaff boxes and cleaned out 

 the Gallup hives, and unpacked the 

 Simplicities. I stated last autumn 

 that I was going to experiment a 

 little. I filled one Simplicity hive 

 with oats cliaff packed in solid, put 

 another hive on it with five frames of 

 brood in the middle and division- 

 boards on each side ; then another 

 hive on top of that with 5 frames 

 filled solid with honey in the center 

 just over the brood-nest, and division- 

 boards on each side corresponding 

 with those below. I covered the top 

 with Indian-head muslin, and filled in 

 at the sides and on top with chaff. 

 I told them to hibernate, and did not 

 touch them again until now. 



I built up four of these monuments. 

 Of course the middle hive— the one 

 containing the brood-nest — had an 

 entrance cut for the bees to go out. 

 When I opened them I found the 

 brood in the upper story of three of 



