NATURAL HI8TOKY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 37 



times, when a colony which has lost its queen despairs 

 of obtaining another, these drone-laying workers are' 

 exalted to her place, and treated with equal regard by the 

 bees. Huber ascertained that fertile workers are usually 

 reared in the neighborhood of the young queens, and 

 thought that they received some particles of the peculiar 

 food or jelly on which these queens are fed. He did not 

 pretend to account for the eifect o*n the queen of retarded 

 impregnation ; and made no experiments on the fecunda- 

 tion of fertile workers. 



Since the publication of Huber's work more than sixty 

 years ago, no light has been shed upon the mysteries of 

 drone-laying queens and workers, until quite recently. 

 Dzierzon appears to have been the first to ascertain the 

 truth on this subject ; and his discovery must certainly be 

 ranked among the most astonishing facts in all the range 

 of animated nature. It seems at first view so absolutely 

 incredible, that I should not dare mention it, if it were 

 not supported by indubitable evidence, and if I had not 

 determined to state all important and well ascertained 

 facts, however contrary to the prejudices of the ignorant 

 and conceited. 



Dzierzon asserts that all impregnated eggs produce 

 females, either workers or queens ; and all unimpregnated 

 ones, males or drones ! He states that in several of his 

 hives he found drone-laying queens, whose wings were so 

 imperfect that they could not fly, and which on examina- 

 tion proved to be unfecundated. Hence, he concluded 

 that the eggs laid by the queen-bee and fertile worker 

 had, from the previous impregnation of the egg from which 

 they sprung, sufficient vitality to produce the drone, which 

 is. a less highly organized insect than the queen or worker. 

 It had long been known that the queen deposits drone- 

 eggs in the large or drone-cells, and worker-eggs in the 



