84 BREEDING. 



contained an egg ; most of these she examined, but did 

 not use them ; six or eight, it appeared, were all that 

 were unoccupied ; in each of these she immediately 

 deposited an egg. She continued to search for more 

 empty cells, and in doing so, she got on the part of 

 the comb containing worker-cells, where she found a 

 dozen or more empty, in each of which, she laid one. 

 The whole time perhaps thirty minutes. Query ? 

 Was her series of drone eggs exhausted just at this 

 time ? If so, it would appear that she was not aware 

 of it, because she examined several drone-cells after 

 laying the last one there, before leaving that part 

 of the comb, and acted exactly as if she would have 

 used them had they not been pre-occupied. Did the 

 worker-cells receive some eggs that would have pro- 

 duced drones, but for the circumstance of being de- 

 posited in worker-cells ? I know we are told that 

 an egg may be transferred from a worker-cell to 

 one for drones, or an egg taken from a drone-cell and 

 deposited in a worker-cell; that the exchange will 

 make no difference, the bee will be just what the first 

 deposit would have made it. How the knowledge for 

 this assertion was obtained, we are not informed, at 

 least of the practical part. That an egg was ever de- 

 tached from the bottom of one cell safely and success- 

 fully deposited in another, without breaking or in- 

 juring it in some manner, to make the bees refuse it^ 

 permit me at present to doubt. 



NECESSITY FOR FURTHER OBSERVATION. 



Cannot some experiments, practicable to all, be in- 



