April, ’18] 
t 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES 
267 
queen was fertilized after the method described. After an interval of 
twenty-six days, although the abdomen was enlarged, no eggs had been 
laid and the female appeared sick. She was killed and the sperma- 
theca examined. It was found quite full of spermatozoa. The second 
case was that of a queen whose age was not known at the time of fertili¬ 
zation. Seven days later she was found in the queen trap trying to 
escape from the hive and was refertilized. Several of her eggs produced 
worker larvae and five eggs were placed in queen cells. All of these 
were capped over, but robbers destroyed the colony preventing com¬ 
plete observations. A third case was a six-day-old queen which after 
an interval of forty days began to produce eggs, about 5 per cent of 
which produced worker bees and the remainder drones. During the 
interval between the first attempted fertilization and egg laying she 
three times tried to escape from the hive and each time was refertilized. 
It was only after the last attempt that her abdomen began to enlarge 
and she prepared for oviposition. 
If this operation can be done once it would seem that we ought to be 
able to repeat it with successful results. This led to a closer examina¬ 
tion of the female organs. Our observations agree with those of other 
investigators as to the existence of the S-shaped bend and muscular 
pump in the spermathecal duct. This probably prevents the forcing 
of the spermatic fluid into the spermatheca. There is undoubtedly 
a time or a natural stimulus which causes this valve to open and if the 
operation can be performed at this time the fluids will enter. The 
problem is to find when this takes place. So far we have been unable 
to determine this point. 
Our results would indicate that if the mating of queen bees is to be 
controlled it must be done in some other way than the one followed 
by us. 
On account of the presence in some of the North Atlantic States of Laspeyresia 
molesta Busck, a serious pest of deciduous fruits, a conference was held Monday, 
March 18, in the office of Dr. A. L. Quaintance, Bureau of Entomology, Washington,. 
D. C. The following were in attendance: Prof. W. J. Schoene, Blacksburg, Va.; L. M. 
Peairs, Morgantown, W. Va.; Prof. E. N. Cory, Dr. Philip Garman, College Park, 
Md.; Prof. C. A. McCue, Newark, Mr. Wesley Webb, Dover, Del; Dr. T. J. Headlee, 
New Brunswick, N. J.; Dr. W. E. Britton, New Haven, Conn.; Dr. A. L. Quaintance 
and Messrs. Whitcomb and Wood of the Bureau of Entomology. 
