go Cause of Fertile Workers. 



jell}'^, from their position near a developing queen. As the 

 workers vary the chyle for the several larvae as Dr. Planta 

 has shown, may they not sometimes make a mistake and 

 feed queen chyle to workers. Surely in caring for so 

 many young, this would be very pardonable. Langstroth 

 supposes that they receive some royal jelly, purposely given 

 by the workers, and I have previously thought this reason- 

 able and probably true. But these pests of the apiarist, and 

 especially of the breeder, almost always, so far as I have 

 observed, make their appearance in colonies long queenless, 

 and I have noticed a case similar to that given by Quinby, 

 where these occurred in a nucleus where no queen had 

 been developed. May it not be true that a desire for eggs 

 stimulates in some worker, which was perhaps over-fed 

 as larva, the growth of the ovaries, growth of eggs in the 

 ovarian tubes, and consequent ability to deposit ? The com- 

 mon high-holder, Colaptes auratus — a bird belonging to 

 the wood-pecker family, usually lays five eggs, and only 

 five ; but let cruel hands rob her of these promises of future 

 loved ones, and, wondrous to relate, she continues to lay 

 more than a score. One thus treated, here on the College 

 campus, actually laid more than thirty eggs. So we see 

 that animal desires may influence and move organs that are 

 generally independent of the will. It may be that in 

 queenless colonies the workers commence to feed some 

 worker or workers, the rich nitrogenous food, and thus 

 their ovaries are stimulated to activity. 



The larval queen is longer, and more rapid of develop- 

 ment than the other larvae. When developed from the 

 egg — as in case of normal swarming — the larva feeds for five 

 days, when the cell is capped b}' the workers. The infant 

 queen then spins her cocoon, which occupies about one 

 day. The fibrous part of the cocoon, which is also true of 

 both drone and worker larvae, is confined to the outer end, 

 as is easily seen by microscopic examination. Yet a thin var- 

 nish continues this over the whole interior of the cell. 

 This latter becomes very thick in worker cells, as many 

 bees are reared in each cell, while in the queen cell it is 

 thin, as but one bee is reared in each cell. A similar varnish 

 coats the cocoons of all silk moths. This may be the con- 



