34 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEY BEE. 



est in its culture, but lead those who observe them, to adore 

 the wisdom of Him who gave them such admirable instincts. 

 The fertility of the queen bee has been entirely under- 

 estimated by most writers. It is truly astonishing. During 

 the height of the breeding season, she will often, under 

 favorable circumstances, lay from two to three thousand eggs, 

 a day I In my observing hives, I have seen her lay at the 

 rate of six eggs a minute. The fecundity of the female of 

 the white ant, is, however, much greater tha:n this, as she 

 will lay as many as sixty eggs a minute ; but then her eggs 

 are simply extruded from her body, and carried by the work- 

 ers into suitable nurseries, while the queen bee herself de- 

 posits her eggs in their appropriate cells. 



On the way in which the Eggs of the Queen Bee are 



FECtTNDATED. 



I come now to a subject of great practical importance, 

 which, until recently, has been attended with difficulties 

 apparently insuperable. 



It has been noticed that the queen bee usually commences 

 laying very early in the season, and always long before there 

 are any males in the hive. (See remarks on Drones.) In 

 what way, then, are her eggs impregnated ? Francis Huber 

 of Geneva, by a long course of the most indefatigable obser- 

 vations, threw much light upon this subject. Before stating 

 his discoveries, I must pay my humble tribute of gratitude 

 and admiration to this wonderful man. It is mortifying to 

 every scientific naturalist, and I might add, to every honest 

 man acquainted with the facts, to hear such an Apiarian as 

 Huber, abused by the veriest quacks and imposters ; while 

 others who are indebted to his labors for nearly all that is of 

 any value in their works, 



