OPINION OF DUCARNE. 83 



drone cells we were therefore obliged to cut away a con- 

 siderable part of the brood combs, and having satisfied 

 ourselves that there were eggs in the cells, we left the 

 hive to repose for a month. In November, another ex- 

 amination was instituted, but a very trifling alteration in 

 the eggs had taken place. They had increased a little in 

 size, but not a single cell was closed, from which any 

 positive conclusion could be drawn that the process of 

 generation was proceeding. During the whole of the 

 winter, we examined the hive at stated periods, but per- 

 ceived no visible alteration in the eggs. By the latter end 

 of February, however, the whole of the eggs were hatched, 

 and some drones were to be seen in the hive. 



From these experiments we drew the following con- 

 clusions ; — that at the end of the season, fructified eggs 

 exist in the brood combs, which, as heat is necessary to 

 their growth through the different stages, cannot be 

 hatched in the coldness of winter *, the warmth of the hive 

 at that time not being sufficient to bring the eggs to 

 maturity, and that as the warm weather declines, the 

 hatching of the eggs also gradually declines, until it entirely 

 ceases, awaiting the return of the spring. 



When a queen bee has not a sufficient number of la- 

 bourers to construct the cells which are necessary for the 

 reception of her eggs, she will frequently forsake the hive, 

 although it may be well stocked with provisions. In order 

 to remedy this inconvenience, some empty combs should 



* It was the opinion of M. Ducarne, a most able French naturalist, that 

 the queen lays her eggs even in winter. He says, " Quelquefois meme 

 il fait assez doux dans l'hiver pour engager la reine a pondre, et a deposer 

 quelques ceufs, mais ces oeufs ne pourroient eclore qu'apres l'hiver, quand 

 les abeilles iront aux champs leur chercher de la nourriture." From these 

 statements of M. Ducarne, we are entitled to draw the conclusion, that 

 it was his opinion that the queen was fecundated by the drones, previously 

 to their expulsion. M. Ducarne would have thrown some valuable light on 

 the natural history of the bee, had he informed us what sort of nourishment 

 the bees collect in the fields, in order to expedite the hatching of the eggs. 

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