62 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 
cells had been contracted, as mentioned by Mr. Root. This 
contraction of the cell mouth seems indispensable to enable 
the queen to put in motion the muscles of her spermatheca. 
149. We will add, with Mr. Root, that in the Spring, or 
late in the Fall, when the crop is not abundant, the queen 
will travel over drone-combs without depositing a single egg 
in them. Even by feeding the colony, when in these con- 
ditions, the queen cannot be readily induced to lay in 
drone-cells. Our conclusions on this point differ from those 
of Mr. Root. We think that the queen prefers worker- 
cells to drone-cells, because the fecundation of the eggs by 
the action of the muscles of the spermatheca probably gives 
her a pleasant sensation, which she does not experience in 
laying drone-eggs. 
Fig. 22. 
ABDOMEN OF THE QUEEN-BEE. 
(Magnified. From the ‘‘Iilustrierte Bienenzeitung.?’’) 
a,b,c,d,e, rings of the abdomen; N. nerve-chain; M, honey-sack; E, 
ovaries; D, stomach; R, rectum; G, ganglions; A, anus; Ss, ovipositor; 
St, sting; P, muscles; H, gland; S, poison-sack. 
150. Some very prolific queens occasionally lay drone- 
eggs in worker-cells. It may be due to fatigue. This will 
readily be admitted when we consider the number of eggs 
laid in one day. (98.) 
151. Dzierzon found that a queen which had been refrig- 
erated for a long time, after being brought to life by warmth, 
