36 



SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



. Pres. Smith — What further business 

 have we before us now? Are there any 

 reports of committees to be heard? 



It was suggested that reports of com- 

 mittees be postponed until the after- 

 noon meeting. 



Pres. Smith — Mr. Hyde, is there not 

 something from your part of the 

 country that would be of interest at 

 this meeting? 



Pres. Smith — Is there any other busi- 



a number of the worker-bees — some- 

 times only one or two, sometimes doz- 

 ens of them — begin to lay eggs in the- 

 cells here and there. Scientists affirm 

 that the drone-laying ability is found 

 in bees that have probably received a 

 greater amount of the royal jelly than 

 the average larvae during the course of 

 their development. This jelly or pap, 

 produced by the salivary glands of the 

 nurses, is fed exclusively to the queen- 



PsBSiDENT J. Q. Smith. 



ness that should be transacted this 

 morning? 



Mr. Becker — It might be a good idea, 

 since there are so many visitors in the 

 city today, for us to adjourn early and 

 meet again at 1 130 p. m. 



On motion the meeting adjourned 

 till 1 :30 p. m. 



First Day — Afternoon Session. 



The afternoon session was opened 

 with the reading of the following paper 

 by C. P. Dadant, President of the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Association, on 



DRONE-LAYING WORKERS 



When a colony of bees becomes hope- 

 lessly queenless, it often happens that 



larvae during the entire time of their 

 development, while a coarser food, con- 

 taining pollen or bee-bread, is fed to 

 the larvae of the worker-bees during 

 the last stages of their larval existence. 

 It is asserted that those workers that 

 receive a little more than their share 

 have ovaries partly developed; and 

 while they are entirely unable to be- 

 come impregnated, owing to the rudi- 

 mentary condition of both spermatheca 

 and ovaries, yet the rudimentary ovar- 

 ies may produce eggs in small quantity. 

 These eggs, like those of queens that 

 have been unable to mate, hatch drones 

 only. It is probably unnecessary to 

 state the well-known fact of partheno- 

 genesis in bees, which is the faculty of 



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