lo^. Male Organs in Bees. 



derful operation, almost beyond the possible. Yet the 

 palssage of the egg from the ovaries in higher animals is 

 almost as surprising. Leuckart is undoubtedly correct in 

 suggesting that for full and complete impregnation the 

 drone needs tense muscles, full air sacs, and thus the vehe- 

 ment exercise on the wing is very important in the sexual 

 act. If this be true, then impregnation of the queen in con- 

 finement is as undesirable as it seems to be exceptional. 

 Were it not for the fact of the spermatophore in the bean, 

 where the spermatozoa seem compact and interwoven, it 

 would be hard to avoid Leuckart's conclusion. While it 

 is not absolutely necessary to have these conditions for 

 impregnation, it doubtless is better, and usually necessary, 

 that they exist. At this time the queen's ovaries are small, 

 arid thus her smaller size before impregnation. Hence 

 there is lack of high tension within the abdomen of the 

 queen, which also tends to aid in the sexual act. 



The drone has not the wax glands beneath the abdomen. 

 On the ventral plates are scattering compound hairs, which 

 doubtless have importance in the sexual act. The drone, 

 like the queen, is without the lower head or pollen digesting 

 glands, and so is largely fed by the workers with chyle. 

 Schonfeld has proved this by caging drones in full colo- 

 nies. If caged in a single- walled cage, so as to be accessible 

 to the workers, they live; if in a double-walled cage they 

 all soon die, though all have abundant honey. While 

 honey is necessary it is not enough. 



It was discovered by Dzierzon in 1845, that the drones 

 hatch from unimpregnated eggs. This strange phenome- 

 non, seemingly so incredible, is, as has been shown in 

 speaking of the queen, easily proved and beyond ques.ion. 

 These eggs may come from an unimpregnated queen, 

 a fertile worker — which will soon be described — or an 

 impregnated queen who may voluntarily prevent impreg- 

 nation. It is asserted by some that the workers can change 

 a worker egg to a drone e^g^ at will. When the workers 

 are able to abstract the sperm cells, which are so small 

 that we can see them only by using a high power micro- 

 scope, then we may expect to see wheat turn to chess. 

 Such eggs will usually be placed in the larger horizontal 



