Page 72 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

70 THE MIRACLE OF THE HONEYBEE

When scientists studied the question of how the queen bee can possess
such a system and the criteria by which she determines gender, they ar-
rived at very surprising results. Actually it’s the worker bees who deter-
mine the gender of the egg, despite the queen’s supervision of the process.
That is because the queen lays an egg according to the kind of cell the
workers have prepared for it. If the cell in which the queen is to lay an egg
is a standard-size 5.2-millimeter (0.2-inch) female cell, then the queen per-
forms fertilization and deposits in it an egg that will eventually hatch into
a female bee. But if the queen comes across a larger 1-millimeter (0.03-
inch) cell, then she lays an unfertilized egg in it. To put it another way, the
queen lays as many drone eggs as the workers have prepared male bee
cells for. 59
The workers also determine the
number of cells. On the basis of the
needs of the hive, they decide
how many worker and how
Ovary
many drone cells should be
constructed, and how much
space should be reserved
for honey or pollen. 60

Oviduct

Spermathecal
This drawing shows the repro- gland
ductive system and sting of a Venom gland
mated queen. The queen bee’s Spermatheca
reproductive organs consist of Venom Sac
two ovaries that produce her
eggs, and a small receptacle
known as the spermatheca, Dufour gland
where the sperm from the drones
which have mated with queen
during her mating flight are
stored. Sting