THE QUEEN. 53 



queen. The queen was yet alive on the following morning. Tor 

 some time after her separation from the drone, she brushed the 

 last ring of her abdomen, as though trying to extract the organ 

 of the drone. She endeavored to bend herself, probably in order 

 to bring this part within reach of her jaws, which were con- 

 stantly moving, but the pin prevented her from attaining her aim. 

 Her activity soon decreased and she ceased to move."— (Alex. 

 Levi, Journal Des Fet-mes, Paris, 1S69.) 



Messrs. Gary and Otis had witnessed a similar occurrence 

 in July 1861. (American Bee Journal, Vol. I, page 66.) 



124. It is now well demonstrated that in a single mating, 

 a queen is fertilized for life, although in a few rare instan- 

 ces thej' have been said to mate two days in succession, per- 

 haps because the first mating was insufficient. 



125. After the queen has re-entered the hive, she gets 

 rid of the organ of the drone by drawing it with her claws, 

 and she is sometimes helped in this work by the worker- 

 bees. The drone dies in the act of fertilization. (188.) 



126. Although fertiUzation of the queen in confinement 

 has been tried by many, it has never been successful. Those 

 who, from time to time, claimed to have succeeded were evi- 

 dently deceiving themselves through ill-made experiments. 

 (187.) 



127. Having ascertained that the queen-bee is fecund- 

 ated in the open air and on the wing, Huber still could not 

 form any satisfactory conjecture how eggs were fertilized 

 which were not yet developed in her ovaries. Years ago, 

 the celebrated Dr. John Hunter (1792), and others, sup- 

 posed that there must be a permanent receptacle for the 

 male sperm, opening into the oviduct. Dzierzon, who must 

 be regarded as one of the ablest contributors of modern 

 times to Apiarian science, maintained this opinion, and 

 stated that he had found such a receptacle filled with a fluid 

 resembling the semen of the drones. He does not seem to 

 have then demonstrated his discoveries by any microscopic 

 examinations. 



