96 Egg-laying by Queen. 
cells, ere the cell was hardly commenced, when there could 
be no pressure. In case of queen-cells, too, if the queen 
does lay the eggs—as I believe—these would be unimpreg- 
nated, as the cell is very large. I know the queen some- 
times passes from drone to worker-cells very abruptly 
while laying, as I have witnessed such a procedure—the 
same that so greatly rejoiced the late Baron of Berlepsch, 
after weary hours of watching —but that she can thus con- 
trol at the instant this process of adding or withholding the 
sperm-cells certainly seems not so strange as that the sper- 
mathéca, hardly bigger than a pin-head, could supply these 
cells for months, yes, and for years. Who that has seen 
the bot-fly dart against the horse’s legs, and as surely leave 
the tiny yellow egg, can doubt but that insects possess very 
sensitive oviducts, and can extrude the minute eggs just at 
pleasure. That a queen may force single eggs, at will, 
past the mouth of the spermatheca, and at the same time 
add or withhold the sperm-cells, is, I think, without ques- 
tion, true. What gives added force to this view is the fact 
that other bees, wasps and ants exercise the same volition, 
and can have no aid from cell-pressure, as all the eggs are 
laid in receptacles of the same size. As already remarked, 
the males and workers of Apis dorsata are developed in 
the same sized cells, while the males of A. Indica are smal- 
ler than the workers. The Baron of Berlepsch, worthy to 
be a friend of Dzierzon, has fully decided the matter. He 
has shown that old drone cells are as small as new worker- 
cells, and yet each harbors its own brood. Very small 
queens, too, make no mistakes. With no drone-cells, the 
queen will sometimes lay drone-eggs in worker-cells, in 
which drones will then be reared, and she will, if she 
must, though with great reluctance, lay worker-eggs in 
drone-cells. 
Before laying an egg, the queen takes a look into the 
cell, probably to see if all is right. I£ the cell contains any 
honey, pollen, or an egg, she usually passes it by, though 
when crowded, a queen will sometimes, especially if young, 
insert two or three eggs in a cell, and sometimes, when in 
such cases she drops them, the bees show their dislike of 
waste, and appreciation of good living, by making a break- 
