AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



555 



Queries ajid Replies. 



Progeny of a Mismateil Qneen, 



Query 790. — 1. Will a mlsmated 

 Italian queen produce pure drones? 2. 

 If so, why will they produce pure drones, 

 and hybrid workers. — J. G. C. 



1. I doubt it. 2. I do not know. — C. 



H. DlBBERN. 



I do not know ; scientists must answer 

 that. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1. Practically, yes. 2. Read up on 

 this point. — G. M. Doolittle. 



1. Our best authorities say so. 2. 

 Consult Cheshire. — J. M. Hasibaugh. 



1. Yes. 2. Because no impregnation 

 is necessary to produce drones. — Eugene 

 Secor. 



1. I believe not, but according to the 

 Dzierzon theory they should. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



1. If pure, I think she will. 2. 

 Because the egg is impregnated to pro- 

 duce females, and not to produce males. 

 — A. J. Cook. 



1. Yes, if she is of pure descent her- 

 self. This is proven. 2. Study the 

 question of parthenogenesis, in the 

 books. — Dad ANT & Son. 



1. Yes. 2. Procure the little pamphlet 

 containing the Dzierzon Theory, and 

 you will get a full answer to this ques- 

 tion, and much information beside. — C. 

 C. Miller. 



1. The scientists say ^he will. 2. 

 Because all eggs impregnated as a result 

 of the mating produce workers, and 

 those not so impregnated produce 

 drones. — R. L. Taylor. 



1. Yes ; pure enough for all .practical 

 purposes. 2. If you do not know, invest* 

 in some good bee-book, and study just a 

 little. Space here does not admit of a 

 full answer. — A. B. Mason. 



1. Yes. 2. Because the eggs that 

 produce drones derive their life wholly 

 from the mother. They are the progeny 

 in the male line, as well as the female, 

 of their grandfather. — M. Mahin. 



1. She will, if she herself is pure. 2. 

 Get some book treating on the natural 

 history of the honey-bee, and read up 

 on parthenogenesis, and on impregna- 

 tion of the queen.— J. P. H. Brown. 



1. Yes. 2. Because the drone's birth 

 is not dependent on, nor does it partake 

 of the mating. So say our naturalists, 

 and puffy queen-breeders have not as 

 yet been able to refute that statement. 

 — James Heddon. 



1. In ray opinion she will not. This 

 matter has been thoroughly discussed 

 during the last 15 years, with the result 

 that some persons believe she will, and 

 others that she will not, and there the 

 matter stands. I am not ready to say I 

 am right, though I believe 1 am. 2. 

 They produce impure workers because 

 the worker eggs are fructified from the 

 drone sperm, while the drone eggs are 

 not. The eggs of a virgin queen always 

 produce drones. This matter is fully 

 discussed in the " Dzierzon Theory " of 

 parthenogenesis, which read. — J. E. 

 Pond. 



How often this question has been 

 asked ! The theory is that the drone 

 honey-bee is strictly the son of his 

 mother. That the drone has no father 

 at all. You may demonstrate to your 

 own satisfaction, as I have done, that 

 the queen honey-bee is capable of pro- 

 ducing live, kicking drone progeny with- 

 out knoiving a male. But no one has as 

 yet proven, by practical testimony, that 

 such drones are capable of propagating 

 the race. All my experiments in this 

 line tend to show that drones of an 

 unmated mother are impotent, and if 

 this is ever demonstrated, it will unsettle 

 the "purity" theory. — G. W. Demaree. 



1. Yes, if the mismated Italian queen 

 is the progeny of a purely fertilized 

 mother. Drones are in no way depend- 

 ent upon the mating of their mother. 

 They are her offspring alone, and can be 

 produced either before or after her 

 fertilization ; and even after her fertility 

 ceases, when she can no longer produce 

 worker eggs, by reason of age, etc., she 

 can lay drone eggs, which will produce 

 drones. Such drones must be capable 

 of perpetuating the race, or else Nature 

 has gone out of her regular course to 

 preserve the race, without accomplish- 

 ing her design. 2. While the mismated 

 queen can produce pure drones— if she is 

 of pure extraction — her worker progeny 

 are the result of her mating with the 

 drone, and unless the father is a pure- 

 blood, the workers will also be impure, 

 i. e., hybrids. — The Editor. 



Supply Dealers desiring to sell our 

 book, "Bees and Honey," should write 

 for terms. 



