wards ejects the male fperm over them, in the fame 
manner as the generation of fifhes is performed by 
the male's impregnating the ipawn after it is emit- 
ted by the female. Maraldi, indeed, long fmce 
conjeftured that this might be tlie cafe; and he 
was confirmed in his fuppofition by obierving that 
a liquid whitifh fubftance fiirrounded each egg at 
the bottom^ of the cell in a fliort time after it had 
been depofited; and that a great number of eggs, 
Vv'hich had not been bedewed with this liquor, re- 
m.ained barren in the cells. 
This method of im.pregnation has lately been 
cilablifhed, beyond all contradiction, by the obfer- 
vations of Mr. Debraw of Camibridge. That gen- 
tleman having put Ibme bees into a glafs hive, to- 
gether with a large number of Drones, obferved, 
on die firft or fccond day from the time tliat the 
eggs were depofited in tlie cells, which the queen 
generally lays on the fourth or fifth after being 
hived, that a great number of bees affixed them- 
felves to each other, and formed a kind of curtain 
fi"om the top to the bottom of the hive, probably 
in order to conceal the procefs of generation: 
however, he foon perceived feveral bees, whole 
fize he was able to difiringuidi, inferting their pof- 
teriors, each into a cell, and finking into it; but in 
a iliort time they retired, when he obferved a fmall 
quantity of whitifli liquor left in the angle of the 
bafe of each cell, containing an egg; which liquor 
was Icfs liquid than honey, and poffeiTed no real 
fweetnefs. In order to a farther elucidation of the 
fa<51:, that the eggs v»^ere thus fecundated by the 
males, Mr. Debraw pitched on a fwarm; and hav- 
ing fcparated the Drones, by fhaking all the bees 
into a veflel full of water, and there leaving them 
till they were become quite fenfelefs, replaced the 
■working animals, together with their queen, as foon 
as they were recovered, by fpreading them on brown 
paper, placed in the fun, within a giafs hive. The 
queen very foon laid her eggs ; fome of which, at 
tlie end of tv/enty days, were hatched into bees; 
others withered away ; and feveral of them were 
encrufted wi-eh honey. Sufpe6ting that fome of 
the males, having efcaped his notice, had impreg- 
nated only a certain part of the eggs, he was an- 
xioujs to afcertain the faft; and, to that end, he re- 
moved all the brood comb which was in the hive, 
and determined to watch the motions of the bees 
after new eggs were depofited in the cells. On the 
lecond day he perceived the operation commence ; 
and, on taking out a piece of the comb containing 
tv/o of the bees which had thruft: their pofteriors 
into the cell, he examined them, and found that 
they were deftitute of ftings ; and on difTeiling 
them, by the afhftance of a macro fcope, he difco- 
vered the four cylindrical bodies, containing the 
whitilh fluid previoufly mentioned, which Maraldi 
obferved in the large Drones. 
On a fubfequent experiment, this gentleman 
having feparated from the fame parcel of bees 
all fuch as were deftitute of ftings, he found no 
lefs than fifty-feven of the number exaftly of the 
fize of common bees; which having prtfTed to 
death between his fingers, they yielded a fmall 
quantity of whidfli liquor; after which he placed 
the remainder of the fwarm in the hive. On the 
fourth or fifth day, the queen bee depofited the 
eggs in the cells, but no part of the procefs of im- 
pregnation could be difcovered: the eggs, after the 
fourth day, inftead of changing in the manner of 
caterpillars, remained in their original ftate, except 
that fome of them were covered with honey; all 
D R O 
the bees forfook the hive, and attempted to get int6 
another place in it's vicinity, probably in queft 
of males; but the queen loft her life in this une- 
qual con(li6t. 
Mr. Debraw afterv/ards made another experi- 
ment, which may be confidered as abfolutely con- 
clufive on this fubjeft. He placed a certain part 
of the unimpregnated brood-comb under a bell 
glafs, in which he confined a queen, and fome com- 
mon bees unaccompanied by any Drones; and the 
other part he put under another glafs bell, with a 
few Drones, a queen, and a number of common 
bees. In the former glafs the eggs remained in 
the fame ftate, without any figns of impregnation; 
and when the bees were rcleafed on the fcventh 
day, they all flew away. The Dr jnes, in the other 
giafs, were obferved to impregnate the eggs in 
every cell on the firft day after they were put in ; 
the bees remained in the hive; and, in the Ipace of 
twenty days, every egg underwent the neceifary 
transformations, and a numerous young colony 
was thus produced. 
It has long ago been obferved3 both by Ma- 
raldi and Reaumur, that there are Drones of the 
fame fize with the common bees; but the late cu- 
rious and interefting experiments of Mr. Debraw, 
befides afcertaining this fact, have chrown nevv' light 
on their importance and utility, and removed con- 
fiderable difficulties which had obfcured the pro- 
cefs of generation among thole animals. It is well 
known, that the larger Drones never appear in the 
hive before the middle of April; and that, before 
the end of Auguft, when the principal breeding 
feafon terminates, they are no more, being de- 
ftroyed, together with all their worms or nymphs, 
by the labouring bees, probably on account of 
faving the honey : and yet it is equally certain, that 
the bees begin to br;:ed early in the fpring, pro- 
vided the weather is favourable; and that many 
broods are compleated before the Drones appear. 
But if the fmaller-fized Drones are fuffered to re- 
main, which in times of fcarcity confume lefs ho- 
ney than the others, they anfwer the neceflTary pur- 
pofes of impregnating the early broods, and tlie 
larger Drones are produced againft the feafon of 
pleafure and plenty. On the other hand, thefe 
fmaller Drones are all dead before the end of May, 
when the larger ones appear to fuperfede their uti- 
lity. 
DRONE-FLY, or BEE-FLY. This infed 
fo greatly refembles the common bee, that at firft 
fight they are not eafily difcriminated. There are, 
however, feveral diftinguifliing charafteriftics be- 
tween the fpecies: the Drone-Fly has only two 
wings; and it's body is fliorter and thicker, and 
it's head confiderably larger, than thofe of the 
common bee. The Bee-Fly alfo invariably carries 
it's wings parallel in their pofition, but without it's 
body ; whereas the bee ufually crolTes it's wings on 
it's back, and covers it's body with them: how- 
ever, this is not an univerfal praftice with refpeft 
to the wings of the bee, though it is certainly a 
very common one. The Bee-Fly frequents flow- 
ers as well as the bee ; and though it refrains from 
the labour of colle6ting wax, it is furnifhed widi a 
trunk by which it abforbs honey : this trunk, which 
enables it to perform the operation, is deftitute of 
teeth ; and confequently the infedt belongs to Reau- 
mur's firft general clafs of two-winged flies ; and 
the conformation of it's body, which is fhort and 
fiat, refers it to his firft fubordinate genus of that 
clafs. 
2 S The 
