QUEEN-REARING IN ENGLAND. 63 



Out of 475 workers produced by an intermediate queen 

 bred in Ripple Court Apiary in 1912, practically every 

 degree of colour occurred. 



Eleven had the first three segments of the abdomen 

 yellow, but the edge of the second segment slightly darkened, 

 more so at the sides, and the third segment narrowly edged 

 with black. 



Forty-seven had the second segment narrowly edged with 

 black, the third segment broadly so. 



Two hundred and fifty-two had the first segment also 

 narrowly edged with black, and the second and third seg- 

 ments more widely so. 



Six had the abdomen black, with a yellow smudge across 

 the second segment. 



Sixteen had it black, with a large yellow spot on either 

 side at the base. 



Twenty-nine had it black with a small yellow spot on 

 either side at the base. 



One hundred and fourteen had the abdomen entirely 

 black. 



Out of eighty-three workers produced by a lighter inter- 

 mediate queen, also mated this season, nearly every degree 

 of colour was found, but the proportions were different. 



Six had the first three segments yellow, the third being 

 narrowly edged with black. 



Ten had the second narrowly, and in the middle faintly, 

 edged with black, and the black edging of the third segment 

 wider. 



Fifty-two had the first segment narrowly edged with 

 black, and the second and third segments more widely so. 



One had the first segment tinged with black, and the 

 second segment broadly edged with black. 



Six had the abdomen black, but a spot on either side 

 of the second segment at the base yellow. 



Eight had the abdomen entirely black. 



A few Italian drones were flying in the apiary in 191 2 

 (the first occasion in ten years), and one or both of these 

 queens may possibly have been mated by one, but I do not 

 think it probable. 



In trying to analyse all these results, we find ourselves 

 in the dark on a most important point, the drone fathers. 



