40 THE BEK keeper's MANUAL. 



animated nature. This fact seems, at first view, so abso- 

 lutely incredible, that I should not dare to mention it, if it 

 were not supported by the most indubitable evidence, and 

 if I had not, (as I have already observed,) determined to 

 state all important and well ascertained facts, without seek- 

 ing, by any concealments, to pander to the prejudices of 

 conceited, and often, very ignorant Bee-Keepers. 



Dzierzon advances the opinion that impregnation is not 

 needed in order that the eggs of the Queen may produce 

 drones; but, that all impregnated eggs produce females, 

 either workers t)r Queens ; and all unimpregnated ones, 

 males or drones ! He states that he found drone-laying 

 Queens in several of his hives, whose wings were so imper- 

 fect that they could not fly, and that on examination, they 

 proved to be unfecundated. Hence he concluded that the 

 eggs of the Queen Bee or fertile worker, had from the pre- 

 vious impregnation of the egg which produced them, suffi- 

 cient vitality to produce the drone, which is a less highly 

 organized insect, and one inferior to the Queen or workers. 

 It had long been known, that the Queen deposits drone eggs 

 in the large or drone cells, and worker eggs in the small 

 or worker cells, and that she makes no mistakes. Dzierzon 

 inferred, therefore, that there was some way in which she 

 was able to decide as to the sex of the egg before it was 

 laid, and that she must have a control over the mouth of the 

 seminal sac, so as to be able to extrude her eggs, allowing 

 them to receive or not, just as she pleased, a portion of its 

 fertilizing contents. In this way he thought she determined 

 the sex, according to the size of the cells in which she laid 

 them. Mr. Samuel Wagner of York, Pa., has recently 

 communicated to me a very original and exceedingly inge- 

 nious theory of his own, which he thinks will account for all 

 the facts without admitting that the Queen Bee has any 



