THE HONEYBEE AND BEES IN GENERAL 



251 



cell, she ventures out of the hive, first crawling about near the 

 entrance, then taking short flights, and finally her wedding trip 

 of from three to thirty minutes. She is followed by the drones, 

 one of which copulates with her. The result of copulation is the 

 filling of the spermatheca of the queen with spermatozoa (Fig. 

 143). She usually copulates only once, the sperm obtained at 

 that time being sufficient to fertilize thousands of eggs. After 

 her nuptial flight the queen never 

 leaves the hive except with a swarm. 



FERTILIZATION. The eggs are fer- 

 tilized just before deposition. How 

 this is accomplished is not definitely 

 known. The queen seems to be able 

 to lay fertilized or unfertilized eggs 

 according to the size of the cell in 

 which the individual is to develop, 

 but it has been proven that the size 

 of the cell does not automatically 

 determine this. Fertilized eggs de- 

 velop into queens and workers, 

 whereas the unfertilized eggs which 

 develop, become drones. The method 

 of control of fertilization is still a 

 mystery. 



EGG LAYING. The eggs are bluish white, and oblong in shape; 

 they are deposited by the queen at the base of the cells and fas- 

 tened in a position parallel to the sides of the cells by a glutinous 

 secretion. The fertilized eggs are laid either in small worker 

 cells, or in large irregular queen cells. Unfertilized eggs are 

 usually laid in drone cells. 



Embryology. The fertilized egg is made up of a large central 

 mass of yolk spheres, among which are traces of cytoplasm, and 

 a peripheral layer of cytoplasm. A single nucleus is present; 

 this is the nucleus of the egg and that of the spermatozoon com- 

 bined. A chitinous shell, the chorion, surrounds the egg; this is 



FIG. 143. Spermatheca of 

 queen honeybee. a, 

 space filled with fluid ; 



b, mass of spermatozoa ; 



c, duct ; d, active sper- 

 matozoa. (From Pack- 

 ard after Cheshire.) 



