THE ECONOMY OF THE HIVE 23 



understand how, by the provision of special food, 

 the ovaries of the embryo queen are developed, 

 but it is quite another matter to understand how 

 the withholding of such food can produce, for 

 instance, the pollen basket of the worker, which 

 both the queen and drone are destitute of. In 

 a word, how are the working qualities of the 

 neuters transmitted to an offspring they have no 

 part in the production of ? 



I confess I have never been able to satisfy 

 myself on the subject, and I put it forward because, 

 although several of my bee-keeping friends have 

 discussed it by word of mouth, I have not been 

 able to find any reference to it in the works of 

 our great bee-masters. 



