28 



THE PBAOTIOL BBK flUIDB. 



25,000,000 (22) ; a duct which joins the spermatheca witn the 

 vagina, and which, by opening or closing, permits or prevents 

 the passing of the spermatozoa when eggs are traversing the 

 common oviduct (co.d) ; and the vagina. 



44. Parthenogenesis.— In 1845 Dzie'^on (80) announced his 

 discovery of parthenogenesis in bees (22). In 1849 he wrote — 



" In the oopulaf on of the queen, the ovary is not impregnated, but 

 this vesicle or seminal reoeptioa.! (Fiy.l2) is penetrated or filled by the 

 male semen. By this, much, uay allof what was enigmatical is solved, — 

 especially how the queen cm lay fertile eggs in the early spring, when 

 thtre arc no males in the hive. The supply of semen raoeivcd during 

 copulation is sufficient for her whole life. To lay drone-eggs, accord'ng 

 to my experionoo, requires no fecundation at all." 



Later on lie wrote : — 



" All egg J whicb come to maturity in the two ovaries of a queen- bee 

 are only of one and the same kind, which, when thoy are laid without 

 coming in contact with the male semen, become developed into male 

 Boes, but, on the contrary, when they are fertilized by male semen, 

 produce female Bees." 



45. Fertilisation of tlie Egg The queen can, at will, 



fertilise the egg as it passes the entrance to the spermatheca, 

 or can allow it to pass unfertilised : in the former case it will 

 produce a female bee; in the latter, a male. It follows that 



if a queen be mated with a drone of 

 a different race the workers pro- 

 duced by the queen will exhibit 

 characteristics of both parents, 

 while the drones will partake of the 

 nature of the queen only. Excep- 

 tions to this rule may, indeed, occur, 

 but very infrequently — as where 

 the drones of a black queen that has 

 mated with a Ligurian drone have 

 shown some sHght Ligurian charac- 

 teristics". Dzierzon and others sug- 

 gested that ihese misht result from 

 a layiDg Italian worker, or from the 

 action of an aura ietninalis; but Sie- 

 bold proved the existence of seminal 

 filaments in thirty of fifty-two female 

 eggs examined, while in twenty- 

 seven drone eggs similarly examined 

 he found not one seminal filament. 

 The supply of spermatozoa, decreas- 

 ing as the fertilization of her eggs 

 proceeds, fails and becomes ex- 



Fig. 13. 



SPERM.\THECA. 



(Magnified forty times.) 



a, Space filled by clear fluid ; 

 &, Mass of Spermatozoa: ti, 

 Spermathecal Dui_-t; d- d, Sper- 

 matozoa in activity. 



