g2 Mating of the Queen. 
queen-larva, and as these are only at the maximum in times 
of active gathering—the time when queen-rearing is nat- 
turally started by the bees—we should also conclude that 
queens reared at such seasons are superior. My experience 
—and I have carefully observed in this connection—most 
emphatically sustains this view. 
Five or six days after issuing from the cell—Neighbour 
says the third day—if the day be pleasant the queen goes 
forth on her “marriage flight;” otherwise she will improve 
the first pleasant day thereafter for this purpose. Rev. 
Mr. Mahin has noticed that the young queens fly out sev- 
eral times simply to exercise, and then he thinks they often 
go from two to five miles to mate; while Mr. Ally thinks 
the mating is performed within one half mile of the hive. 
I have known queens to be out on their mating tour for 
thirty-five minutes, in which case it would seem certain 
that they must have gone more than one-half mile. Some- 
times queens will meet the drones, as shown by the white 
thread, and yet not be impregnated. The spermatozoa 
did not reach the spermatheca. In such cases, a second 
and perhaps a third mating is required. Huber was the 
first to prove that impregnation always takes place on the 
wing. Bonnet also proved that the same is true of ants, 
though in this case millions of queens and drones often 
swarm out at once. I have myself witnessed several of 
these wholesale matrimonial excursions among ants. I 
have also frequently taken bumble-bees that were copula- 
ting while on the wing. I have also seen both ants and 
bumble-bees fall while united, probably borne down by 
the expiring males. That butterflies, moths, dragon-flies, 
etc. mate on the wing is a matter of common observation. 
It has generally been thought impossible for queens in 
confinement to be impregnated. Prof. Leuckart believes 
that successful mating demands that the large air-sacs 
(Fig. 2, 7) of the drones shall be filled, which he thinks 
is only possible during flight. The demeanor of the drones 
suggests that the excitement of flight, like the warmth of 
the hand, is necessary to induce the sexual impulse. 
_ Many others, with myself, have followed Huber in clip- 
ping the virgin queen’s wing, only to produce a sterile, or 
