148 
THENOGENESIS. 
supplied by the nurse bees to the larvae, and that 
therefore the progeny of the queen by this means 
partake of the characteristics of the workers, as well 
as those of the queen. If this applies to workers, 
why should it not do so to drones ? It would not be 
at all impossible in such a case that drones could 
partake of the character of the workers, and although 
they may be parthenogenetically produced, the food 
administered through the workers may have influ- 
enced their character, and imparted to some of them 
the outward characteristics of the workers. What- 
ever may be the cause (for at present it is not de- 
finitely known) such cases are an exception and not 
the rule. 
Berlepsch ( 3 ) says that although the queen 
knows when to fertilise the eggs which she lays in 
worker cells, and when to lay them unfertilised in 
drone cells, if she is only provided with drone 
comb she will still lay in them fertilised eggs. This 
we have had ample opportunities of verifying, and 
more particularly at the apiary of Dr. Bianchetti of 
Ornavasso, described on page 58 of British Bee 
fou 7 'nal for 1886. 
Spermatozoa have considerable power of persistent 
vitality, and retain their functions for a long time 
stored up in the spermatheca — even resisting consider- 
able deviation from the normal temperature ; but pro- 
longed exposure to cold has been found to destroy 
this vitality. 
Dr. Dzierzon (37) found that a queen which had 
been frozen for a long time, after being again brought 
