Sid Pullinger wrote:

  >> I believe she measures the diameter of the cells with
  >> her front legs.

> I read somewhere many years ago of experiments designed
> to check this. ... Perhaps  someone can come up with more
> positive evidence.

>>> Posting number 25870, dated 6 Jan 1999 11:38:49
...
A study by Dr. Koeniger (1970) nicely demonstrated that
the front legs of a queen are involved in a queen's
'decision' whether to fertilise or not to fertilise an
egg. When both front legs are amputated (at the trochanter
= part of an insect's leg near the body) queens laid about
89 % fertilised eggs in drone cells. Amputation at more distal
parts of the front legs resulted in lower frequencies of
fertilised eggs in drone cells.

The author suggests that sperm release is the 'normal'
status and that drone cells block the release. He speculates
that queen cells do not contain this inhibiting stimulus
of drone cells and therefore eggs laid in queen cells
get fertilised.
...
--
Michael Haberl
Hessische Landesanstalt fuer Tierzucht, Abt. Bienenzucht
Erlenstr. 9, 35274 Kirchhain, Germany, 51n 9w
Tel: ++49 6422 9406-12; Fax: -33
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