FECUNDITY OF THE QUEEN. 59 



month of March ; consequently, if the act of coition with the 

 drone took place in the latter month, we naturally inquire, 

 by what power were the eggs fecundated in the month of 

 May ? This was a question which Huber no doubt put to 

 himself, and perceiving that it would not be consistent with 

 his theory, to allow of any act of coition, subsequently to the 

 first, he fell upon the extraordinary conceit of one single act 

 of coition being all-sufficient to fructify the ovarium of the 

 queen for the whole remaining period of her life. The 

 ovarium of the queen is entirely empty during the winter 

 months, and the earliest period that we ever knew of the 

 appearance of an egg in it, was the 20th of January. The 

 growth of these eggs is so exceedingly rapid, that by the 

 27th, some of them were laid in the cells * ; and now arises 

 one of the most difficult points in the whole natural history 

 of the bee. In what manner are the eggs so laid in January 

 rendered prolific, there not being a single male in the hive, 

 either to copulate with the queen, or to fructify the egg in 

 the cell ? Bonner, in order to surmount that difficulty, 

 invented a number of little drones, which were by courtesy 



* A correct idea may be formed of the wonderful fecundity of the queen bee 

 by the following statement, taken from an actual calculation of the number 

 of insects composing the population of the original hive, and of a first swarm, 

 every egg of which has been laid by the queen. 



One full grown queen bee in the original hive - - 1 



One full-grown queen in the swarm - 1 



Queens in cells of the original hive ... 9 



Full-grown working bees in the original hive - - 8,494 



Full-grown working bees in the swarm - - 2,433 



Full-grown drones in the original b.ive - - - 693 



Full-grown males in the swarm - - - - 278 



Nymphs of queens - 5 



Nymphs and worms of working bees - 6,468 



Nymphs and worms of drones - 858 



The numher of cells in a hive are about 23,000. At one time we counted 

 6468 sealed cells, 210 of which had brood. The cells, in which bees had 

 already been hatched, amounted to 7814. According to the above statement 

 the population of a hive amounts to about 10,000. 

 D 2 



