7Q SYSTEM OF RETARDED IMPREGNATION. 



November; the drones actually existing for the purpose of 

 fecundating her, and the whole process of ovipositing going 

 on, as if it were the height of summer. The bees in 

 England, Germany, and Switzerland are in the month of 

 November already in their hibernating state, when scarcely 

 a single bee is seen to leave the hive ; and this fact being 

 admitted, the whole statement of Huber is not entitled to 

 the least consideration. Further, in accordance with the 

 system of Huber, the queen ought to have commenced 

 laying her eggs forty-six hours after the impregnation, but 

 we are told that the weather was too cold to admit of it. The 

 climax of this miracle is, however, yet to come. From the 

 month of October until May she was confined by merely 

 contracting the entrance, and during that time she had laid 

 more than 3000 male eggs ! ! and 2438 common workers ! ! ! 

 If, however, we examine the latter part of this statement, to 

 what conclusion are we necessarily driven ? To no other 

 than that Huber was decidedly ignorant of the natural 

 history of the bee. When, in the first place, was it ever 

 known that the queen bee laid her eggs in the winter ? And 

 secondly, when was it known that three thousand drones 

 were ever bred in one hive ? And supposing even that 

 number to be bred, in what manner were they to be sup- 

 ported ? Three thousand useless mouths in a hive, living 

 upon the stores of the community, would soon exhaust 

 their resources, and ultimately prove the destruction of their 

 hive ; and more especially so, as it would take place at a 

 season of the year, when the bees had no means of replenish- 

 ing the heavy drains, which would be daily made upon their 

 magazines. 



The system of retarded impregnation, is what may be 

 styled the favourite hobby horse of Huber, and it must be 

 admitted that he has ridden it unmercifully, in return for 

 which it has thrown him into some very awkward predica- 



twenty-three trials, excusing himself for the failure, by alleging, that his 

 hives were deficient in royal jelly makers. 



