10 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



sex. If this is true, it appears to us all but impossible to 

 account for the fact that impregnation makes a queen 

 prolific, causing her to lay a hundredfold more eggs than 

 a queen unimpregnated. If the fertilising matter of the 

 male is simply lodged in a distinct vesicle, and does not 

 affect the productive powers of the queen, but merely 

 touches and femalises so many eggs in passing through 

 the oviduct, how comes it to pass that unmated queens are 

 nearly barren 1 We think that the explanation given as 

 to the cause of some eggs being male and some female is 

 not satisfactory, and that the mode of fecundation may 

 be for ever veiled from the ken of mortals. Also, how the 

 queen knows what kind of eggs she deposits — placing 

 male eggs in drone-comb and female eggs in worker- comb. 

 The eggs of virgin or unmated queens are male in, 

 character. 



CHAPTEE II. 



DRONES. 



These are about the most idle and unfortunate creatures 

 in existence. They are generally hatched in drone-combs, 

 the cells of which are considerably larger than those of 

 worker-combs. These large cells, buUt up together, are 

 called drone-comb. The less of drone-comb there is in a 

 hive, the better it is for breeding purposes ; for though the 

 bees can rear drones in worker-ceils, they never rear workers 

 in drone-cells. Drone-combs are generally situated on the 

 extreme outsides of the worker-combs, but sometimes 

 they are found near the centre of the hive. It is the 

 position and number of drone-cells in a hive that deter- 

 mine the number of drones reared. If such cells are near 



