64 BEES AND BEE-KEEPTNG. 



is argued by Langstroth and others, that all queens 

 that fail to become impregnated within a certain 

 period after maturity, invariably lay drone eggs, and 

 consequently it is not necessary to have connection 

 with the drone to produce males, it only being so in 

 order to produce females. Although there are strong 

 arguments in favor of this theory, yet I am not pre- 

 pared to fully indorse it ; as already stated, I think 

 the true cause may be found in a defect in the phy- 

 sical structure of the queen, which causes her to 

 produce only males. A careful microscopic exami- 

 nation would, I think, disclose the fact to be a 

 deficiency in the ovaries where the female eggs are 

 generated. I will experiment further upon this 

 point, and satisfy myself, at least, of the truth, and 

 trust others will do the same. 



FERTILE WORKERS. 



I have seen some three or four cases of fertile 

 workers, or a bee differing so little from the most of 

 workers as not to be distinguished from them, even 

 by a very careful examination, but yet is capable 

 of laying eggs. Two cases of this kind occurred in 

 the last lot of bees shipped by me to California, in 

 the fall of 1858. On opening them, one colony was 

 observed that had no queen, yet eggs were found in 

 drone cells, generally two or three, and in some as 

 many as four in one cell ; a space of three or four 

 inches square of comb was thus occupied; a few 

 were hatched in the larva state. I made a very 

 thorough seai-ch, but no queen, nor anything re- 



