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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Chris Slade <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:31:06 EST
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While about to reply on the List to Erin's original question it  occured to 
me that I don't fully understand the mechanism of egg laying in  either worker 
or queen.  
 
I was a bit puzzled by the sting being a modified ovipositor and wondered  
whether it could still be used for the purpose and, if not what is the  
alternative. So I turned to my bookshelves for guidance, first to Winston and  and 
then to Dade. They pointed me in what I thought was the right direction but  not 
without ambiguity, although it was good to be reminded of the quality of the  
drawings in Dade's book (Anatomy and dissection of the honeybee). I then 
looked  at Lesley Goodman's 'Form and Function in the Honeybee' (the book with 
the'wow'  factor that should be on every beekeeper's Christmas present list) but 
the  ambiguity was unresolved.  
 
Lastly I found my copy of Celia Davis' 'The Honey Bee inside out' and there  
I think I have found my answer. The Bursa copulatrix lies between the vagina 
and  the outside world. Davis writes 'It is a wide cavity opening to the 
outside of  the body, with the sting loosely anchored to its top surface.'
 
The looseness of the sting may answer my questions: does the sting get in  
the way when the queen lays her eggs in the bottom of cells?  Could the  sting 
be a reason why laying workers often don't seem to deposit eggs as neatly  as 
Mother does?
 
Has anybody observed egg laying in a cell against the glass of an  
observation hive enabling what is normally hidden to be seen? What have thy  noticed 
about it? Are there pictures on line?
 
I apologise that this mail is seeking informed discussion of bee biology  
rather than politics so to ensure that it gets past the moderators maybe I  
should point out that I do play with small cell and naturally drawn comb  and that 
my only tentative conclusion so far is that you get more bees to a  frame if 
the cells are smaller.
 
Chris

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