0)2 Mating of the ^ueen. 



liiieen-iarva, and as these are only at the maximum in times 

 of active gathering — the time when queen-rearing is nat- 

 turally started by the bees — we should also conclude that 

 queens reared at such seasons are superior. My experience 

 — and I have carefully observed in this connection — most 

 emphatically sustains this view. 



Five or six days after issuing from the cell — Neighbour 

 says the third day — if the day be pleasant the queen goes 

 forth on her "marriage flight;" otherwise she wdl improve 

 the first pleasant day thereafter for this purpose. Rev. 

 Mr. Mahin has noticed that the young queens fly out sev- 

 eral times simply to exercise, and then he thinks they often 

 go from two to five miles to mate; while Mr. Ally thinks 

 the mating is performed within one half mile of the hive. 

 I have known queens to be out on their mating tour for 

 thirty-five minutes, in which case it would seem certain 

 that they must have gone more than one-half mile. Some- 

 times queens will meet the drones, as shown by the white 

 thread, and yet not be impregnated. The spermatozoa 

 did not reacli the spermatheca. In such cases, a second 

 and perhaps a third mating is required. Huber was the 

 first to prove that impregnation always takes place on the 

 wing. Bonnet also proved that the same is true of ants, 

 though in this case millions of queens and drones often 

 swarm out at once. I have myself witnessed several of 

 these wholesale matrimonial excursions among ants. I 

 have also frequently taken bumble-bees that were copula- 

 ting while on the wing. I have also seen both ants and 

 bumble-bees fall while united, probably borne down by 

 the expiring males. That butterflies, moths, dragon-flies, 

 etc. mate on the wing is a matter of common observation. 

 It has generally been thought impossible for queens in 

 confinement to be impregnated. Prof. Leuckart believes 

 that successful mating demands that the large air-sacs 

 (Fig. 2,/") of the drones shall be filled, which he thinks 

 is only possible during flight. The demeanor of the drones 

 suggests that the excitement of flight, like the warmth of 

 the hand, is necessary to induce the sexual impulse. 



Many others, with myself, have followed Huber in clip- 

 ping the virgin queen's wing, only to produce a sterile, or 



