Bramble-bees and Others 



words will perhaps sound heretical. No mat- 

 ter: as a simple translator of facts, I do not 

 hesitate to make my statement, being fully 

 persuaded that time will turn my heresy into 

 orthodoxy. I will therefore recapitulate my 

 conclusions. 



Bees lay their eggs in series of first 

 females and then males, when the two sexes 

 are of different sizes and demand an unequal 

 quantity of nourishment. When the two sexes 

 are alike in size, the same sequence may occur, 

 but less regularly. 



This dual arrangement disappears when 

 the place chosen for the nest is not large 

 enough to contain the entire laying. We then 

 see broken layings, beginning with females 

 and ending with males. 



The egg, as it issues from the ovary, has 

 not yet a fixed sex. The final impress that 

 produces the sex is given at the moment of 

 laying or a little before. 



So as to be able to give each larva the 

 amount of space and food that suits it ac- 

 cording as It Is male or female, the mother 

 can choose the sex of the egg which she is 

 about to lay. To meet the conditions of the 

 building, which is often the work of another 



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