THE BEE3 EAT THE MALE EGGS. If 



ments. From this system spring all the actions of the 

 queen bee, and of her eccentric departure from those rules 

 and habits, to which, in all other cases, she appears to be 

 unerringly bound. In fact, the very species, which are to 

 emanate from the egg, depend upon the period of her im- 

 pregnation, and not on the sexual character inherent in the 

 egg ; independently of which, if the impregnation be re- 

 tarded, it has the wonderful effect of so stultifying the queen, 

 and so impairing her knowledge of the exact kind of egg 

 which she is about to lay, that all is confusion and disorder. 

 She lays drone eggs in common cells, and eggs of common 

 workers in drone cells, and so great is her stupidity, that 

 she actually lays male eggs in the royal cells. 



It should, however, be further remarked, that the queen 

 under no circumstances whatever, ever lays an egg in a royal 

 cell, after it has once been vacated by its original tenant, when 

 it becomes decidedly useless for every purpose in the hive. 

 Retarded impregnation, may, according to Huber's expe- 

 rience, make a fool of the queen ; but he admits at the same 

 time, that some very proper limits are placed to her fooleries, 

 Nevertheless, he certainly makes her guilty of a very great 

 one, when he asserts that she lays male eggs in the royal cells ; 

 which eggs, we are informed by Huber, the bees at first take 

 great care of, but then in three days, so precise is Huber in 

 his reports, they very unceremoniously make a dainty meal 

 of them. The latter affair, according to Huber's own con- 

 fession, is an insoluble problem to him, for he declares that 

 he cannot comprehend why the bees should take such great 

 care of these male eggs in the royal cells, and then without 

 any apparent concern or remorse determine to eat them. 

 We confess that we are not less puzzled than Huber him- 

 self, to comprehend the fact itself, and we can only cha- 

 racterize it as one of those illusions, with which he was so 

 often visited. His account, however, of the workers on this 

 occasion, is exceeedingly amusing ; at all events, it can lay 



8 



