406 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



drone, while on the wing, succeeds in stri- 

 king the point ot liis body partially into this 

 opening, the sudden niuscvdar contraction 

 takes place, and his body is, in a measure, 

 turned inside outward, projecting the male 

 organ with all its attachments into the body 

 of the queen, and perhaps liberating the 

 seminal tluid at the same time. Now, na- 

 tiu-e has provided two queer shaped horns 

 tliat project from the organ of the male, fit- 

 ting the interior organ of the queen; these 

 are seen very distinctly when the drone is 

 pressed, as before mentioned. These horns 

 alone would seem to be enough to prevent 

 withdrawal, but nature, to make sure, has 

 furnished them on their outer surfaces, with 

 a sort of horny scales, or minute hairs, that 

 stand something like the beard on a head of 

 wheat ; they can go forward but never back- 

 ward, and therefore there is no way but for 

 the poor drone to lose his life by having it 

 torn out of him. in an instant. Nature has 

 also made provision for the easy separation 

 of tliese organs by placing them loosely in 

 his body, and so that after they are thrown 

 out by a no very great pressure, the attach- 

 ments, which are only a membrane, give way 

 readily, by the twisting process I have des- 

 cribed. 



Why is nature thus, as it would seem to 

 us. needlessly cruel? Well, I presume there 

 is some very good reason, even if we can 

 not now see it. The single fertilization of 

 the queen must, for very good reasons, last 

 for years, if not for the whole of her life. 

 This being the ease, it would not be strange, 

 if such a draft on the constitution of the 

 niale Avere greater than he could stand, and 

 be serviceable afterward for the purpose for 

 which he was created. Nature, to make all 

 things sure, seems to have found it fitting 

 that he should expire in the act; as he has 

 no other purpose of existence, so far as we 

 know, is it not just as well? 



It has been suggested that this act can 

 only take place while both sexes are on the 

 wing ; that unless the body of the drone 

 were inflated with air, as when flying, this 

 wonderful bursting asunder of his organ- 

 ism, like the mature seed pods of the touch- 

 me-not. could not well take place. I believe 

 instances have been observed when the 

 meeting took place where the insects Avere 

 confined, yet had liberty enough so they 

 could buzz al)out or whirl about each other; 

 Init, as a general thing, unless the parties 

 have the liberty of the open air, and have 

 perfect wings, fertilization is impossible. 

 Where you have reason to think the wings 



of a queen are not absolutely perfect, you 

 can test the matter by throwing her up in 

 the air in front of her hive. I have done 

 this many times with queens that did not 

 lay when about tAvo Aveeks old, and they are 

 almost iuA'ariably found to be unable to 

 rise easily in the air. It has been said that 

 queens Avith bad Avings are sometimes found 

 producing Avorker brood ; I have never 

 found such a' case, but the testimony from 

 carefid and reliable parties seems to indi- 

 cate that it does sometimes happen. One 

 Avho is inexi)erienced in these matters Avould 

 hardly think of the many chances there are 

 to be mistaken ; it is noAv found to be a rath- 

 er common occurrence for tAvo queens to be 

 in the same hive, and the Avorker brood 

 credited to the queen Avith imperfect Avings 

 from birth, may easily belong to another. 

 Again ; the bees often attack a queen Avhen 

 returning from her bridal trip, and if they 

 do not kill her, maim her, by biting off a 

 Aving, a leg, or perhaps both. If you should 

 find a young queen Avith half a Aving, or per- 

 haps only a stmnp, producing Avorkers, hoAV 

 many of you Avoidd not decide at once, that 

 she must have been fertilized in the hiveV 

 I once had an Italian queen nearly black, 

 that produced beautiful yelloAV Avorkers. 

 She was missed, and finally turned up in a 

 neighboring hive, AA'hich, to my astonish- 

 ment, Avas found to be Italians, instead of 

 hybrids. She Avas found busily at Avork, but 

 possessed scarcely the vestige of a Aving. 

 Bees often mutilate the Avings of queens 

 Avhich are being introduced, and sometimes, 

 during a scarcity of honey, attack their OAvn 

 queens and mar their appearance in this 

 AA'ay. I think before deciding, it Avill be 

 A\'ell to aAvait further facts and iuA^stiga- 

 tion. See aktificial fertilization. 



SHALL AVE CLIP THE QFEEN'S AVINGS? 



At one time, I Avas strongly in favor of 

 clipping the Avings of all queens, just as soon 

 as they Avere found laying. As they often 

 got out in the grass during swarming time, 

 and got lost, Avhen they Avould i)robably 

 have been saved if they had had their wings, 

 I afteiAvard concluded that I did not want 

 the Avings of my queens clipped. In selling 

 queens, since then, very many of them have 

 rtoAvn aAvay Avhile being introduced and I 

 have begun to decide that clipping them is 

 perhaps the less of the tAvo evils. To pre- 

 vent them from flying, it has been suggested 

 that they be daubetl Avith honey, Avhich the 

 bees Avill soon lick off; this did very Avell, 

 until some one reported a queen that had to 

 be re-caged. The honey dried on her body 



