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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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