NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 
37 
times, when a colony which lias lost its queen despairs 
of obtaining another, these drone-laying workers are 
exalted to her place, and treated with equal regard by the 
bees. Huber ascertained that fertile workers are usually 
reared in the neighborhood of the young queens, and 
thought that they received some particles of the peculiar 
food or jelly on which these queens are fed. He did not 
pretend to account for the effect on the queen of retarded 
impregnation ; and made no experiments on the fecunda¬ 
tion of fertile workers. 
Since the publication of Huber’s work more than sixty 
years ago, no light has been shed upon the mysteries of 
drone laying queens and workers, until quite recently. 
Dzierzon appears to have been the first to ascertain the 
truth on this subject; and his discovery must certainly be 
ranked among the most astonishing facts in all the range 
of animated nature. It seems at first view so absolutely 
incredible, that I should not dare mention it, if it were 
not supported by indubitable evidence, and if I had not 
determined to state all important and well-ascertained 
facts, however contrary to the prejudices of the ignorant 
and conceited. 
Dzierzon asserts, that all impregnated eggs produce 
females, either workers or queens ; and all unimpregnated 
ones, males or drones I He states that in several of 1 1 is 
hives he found drone-laying queens, whose wings were so 
imperfect that they could not fly, and which on examina 
tion proved to be unfecundated. Hence, he concluded 
that the eggs laid by the queen-bee and fertile worker 
had, from the previous impregnation of the egg from 
which they sprung, sufficient vitality to produce the drone, 
which is a less highly organized insect than the queen or 
worker. It hid long been known that the queen deposits 
drone-eggs in the large or drone-cells, and worker-eggs 
