THE BEE-KEEFERS REVIEW. 



161 



Metzger claims further that it is the liquid 

 contained in the spermatheca which fertil- 

 izes the drone eggs, and according to his 

 final conception, the liquid of the sperma- 

 theca contains corpuscles in the form of 

 batonette or small rods, a hundred times 

 smaller than the spermatozoa, and these 

 batonette pass the narrow opening of the 

 spermatheca to fertilize the eg^ iu its pas- 

 sage into the vagina. Metzger and Wey- 

 gandt von Flacht claim that their theory is 

 supported by observations with the micro- 

 scope, and also by certain exceptions to the 

 law of parthenogenesis which have been db- 

 servedhere and there, such as the occasional 

 discovery of crossed or Italian drones in a 

 hive where the queen is Ijlack. But the one 

 stronghold of Metzger and his adherents is 

 the existence in the spermatheca of a liquid 

 capable of fertilizing drone eggs. Even this 

 is controverted by Reepen in the Deutscher 

 Bienen-feund No. 16, 181)3, where he states 

 that queens have been found who had no 

 spermatheca and who still laid drone eggs. 

 Lenckart, Schoenfeld, and Reepen oppose 

 Metzger's theories. On the other hand, 

 Vogel and Dr. Dzierzon maintain the theory 

 of a seminal liquid and the doctrine of her- 

 maphroditism. In conclusion Pastor Klein 

 says : " Parthenogenesis remains the lumin- 

 ous point of the noble art of apiculture, a 

 solid and scientific foundation for an impor- 

 tant branch of apicultural improvement 

 (exploitation), a proof of its contiuous ef- 

 forts and painstaking observations, and 

 science will always render itacknowledge- 

 ment for all these services." 



In the Leipsiger Bienen Zeitang for Feb- 

 ruary, 1894, Dr. Dzierzon sharply attacks 

 Herr Oldenburger on the subject of parthe- 

 nogenesis. Dr. Dzierzon holds that the 

 term can only be applied to an unfertilized 

 queen, and that applied to drone eggs it is a 

 misnomer. Oldenburger on the other hand, 

 holds that the term may be used in connec- 

 tion with the non-fertilization of the egg, 

 and in this use of the term he is supported 

 by Professor Leuckart wno says that scien- 

 tific terms, and among these he classes par- 

 thenogenesis, are often used with a signifi- 

 cation which transcends their peculiar and 

 original meaning. Dr. Dzierzon is also in- 

 dignant that Herr ( )ldenburger should couple 

 his name with that of Metzger's in regard to 

 the latter's new theory. He says the only 

 point he holds in common with Metzger is 

 that of the possibility of the existence of a 



seminal liquid, differing from sperm but fit- 

 ted for the fertilization of drone eggs, in the 

 spermatheca of the queen. 



In L'Apicuiteur for February, 18'.t4, M. 

 Chabanne combats the position of M. Le- 

 febre — ^that parthenogenesis is a result of the 

 nourishment of the queen, holding that there 

 are germs in the pollen by which she is fer- 

 tilized — and calls upon the shades of Brown- 

 Sequard and Darwin to defend us from the 

 absurdities into which the theory of a fertil- 

 izing polkn would lead us. M. Chabanne 

 himself can only say that parthenogenesis 

 is a natural law, no more explible than the 

 laws of force, heat, gravity, etc. 



PLANTING FOE HONEY. 



We notice that the German bee journals 

 endeavor to encourage in every way the rais- 

 ing of honey- yielding plants and shrubs. 

 One enthusiastic writer in the Leipseger 

 Bienen Zeitung for December, '93, says : 

 " To the bee-kaeper each waste spot of 

 earth should say ' Here is a place for a shrub 

 or tree.' " He particularly recommends the 

 snowberry or Peter's bush. In the same 

 journal for February, '94, the American 

 Juneberry is highly recommended, not only 

 for the attractions it offers the bees, but also 

 as an ornamental shrub, and for its fruit- 

 bearing qualities. 



In the Revue Internationale d' Apiculture 

 (Swiss) for March, '94, the editor comment- 

 ing on an article by Mr. R. L. Taylor on foul 

 brood, published in the Bee-Keepebs' Re- 

 view, says in contradiction of Mr. Taylor's 

 statement that drugs are of no benefit in this 

 trouble, that he, M. Bertrand, has obtained 

 a radical cure of thirty-seven colonies by the 

 use of salicylic acid. 



LARGE HIVES AND WEIGHT OE SWARMS. 



L' Abbe Martin in L'Apicul.eur for April, 

 1894, gives a novel reason for the use of 

 large hives. It is his opinion that at 

 the time of swarming only half the bees 

 are at home, the other half being in the 

 fields. He claims that he has made fre- 

 quent experiments, and found it a con- 

 stant experience, that having weighed a 

 swarm at the time of swarming, and again 

 in the evening, the weight the second time is 

 double that of the first. This, he says, is 

 true in the case of artificial as well as of 

 natural swarming. ( )f course he must place 

 the swarms on the old stand, and even then 

 his statement seems incredible. 



