A PROBLEM OF HEREDITY 99 



we can understand how it could possibly be other- 

 wise. And yet, what, so far as the bee is con- 

 cerned, are the actual facts ? 



The drone is a male bee, having neither the 

 organs nor the intelligence to perform the 

 necessary functions of existence apart from the 

 colony. The queen is more or less in like case. 

 Neither is able to find food for itself. Neither has 

 ever had anything to do with the rearing of the 

 young. Yet the product of the two is, under 

 ordinary circumstances, an insect endowed with 

 special apparatus for carrying home honey and 

 pollen in quantities truly remarkable for the size 

 of the creature. Its tongue, honey sac, and pollen 

 baskets are developed in a measure that has no 

 comparison with those of its parents. In addition, 

 it possesses a much higher degree of intelligence, 

 as calculated by brain area. That there is some 

 clear reason for this and that it is not merely 

 a singular caprice of nature we are quite ready to 

 believe, but how it is to be explained is another 

 matter. 



Skilled apiarists know well that qualities, even 

 to the most minute shades of difference, are thus 

 perpetuated. A stock that is naturally vicidus and 

 inclined to sting at every opportunity can be cured 

 of the propensity by removing the queen and 

 substituting one from another and more gentle 

 colony. On the other hand, if we have a colony 

 which is notable for its devotion to work, for its 



