IN THE HONEY-BEE. 81 



expression micropylar apparatus, without connecting therewith 

 exactly the same idea as that which has been formed of it by 

 Leuckart. The possibility of success in the above-mentioned 

 (p. 76) artificial impregnation must depend, as Leuckart has 

 very justly observed*, upon the thin albuminous coat of the eggs 

 of Bees, for as soon as this albuminous coat has dried, which 

 will certainly be the case within a few minutes of the deposition 

 of the eggs in the waxen cells, the orifices of the micropylar ap- 

 paratus will be plastered over with it, so that the seminal fila- 

 ments will be prevented from penetrating into the interior of 

 the egg. 



Leuckart's statement alsof, that it is impossible, from the 

 external condition of the Bee's egg, to arrive at any conclusion 

 as to the sex of the Bee which is to be developed in it, is im- 

 portant, and I can fully confirm it. 



Leuckart now hoped J " by the assistance of the microscope 

 to ascertain the presence or absence of the seminal filaments 

 upon the micropylar apparatus of freshly-deposited drone-eggs, 

 and from this to draw a conclusion as to their fecundation or 

 non-fecundation/' as he knew " that in many cases it is not 

 difficult to discover the seminal filaments singly or in strings, 

 sometimes even in very considerable ones, in the albuminous layer 

 covering the micropyle in freshly-laid eggs, and even to witness 

 the act of slipping in through the micropyle." Unfortunately 

 these hopes were not fulfilled, for Leuckart was compelled to 

 admit that what he observed is not sufficient for the decision 

 of the question, and only possesses some value in as far as 

 Dzierzon's hypothesis is not directly contradicted by it. 



Leuckart accounts for the failure of his design as follows J : 

 " The Bee is one of those insects which in fecundation only 

 deposit very few seminal filaments, perhaps in many cases only a 

 single one, upon their eggs. Important and significant as this 

 circumstance is for the practical breeding of Bees, as only by it 

 does it become possible that the queen, notwithstanding her 

 immense fertility, can lay eggs for years together without ex- 

 hausting the contents of her seminal receptacle it is evident 

 that it is equally unfavourable and unwelcome to the physio- 



* See Seebacher Studien, loc. cit. supra, p. 206. 1. 

 t Loc. cit. p. 204. 1. % Loc. cit. p. 205. 1. 



G 



