PERFECT SOnr^TlES OF INSECTS. 1/3 



posed, witisin tlie hive". T!iis opinion Huber has con- 

 firmed by indubitable proofs ; but he further discovered 

 tliat these aniinal^^ pair al)road, in the air, during the 

 flight of the queen : a fact which renders a large nunj- 

 ber of males necessary, to ensure her impregnation in 

 due time to lay og-<^s that will produce workers''. Huber 

 also o])served those appearances which induced Debraw 

 to adopt the opinion I mentioned just now, and was at 

 first disposed to t!iinkthem real ; but afterwards, upon 

 a nearer inspection, he discovered that it was an illu- 

 sion caused by tlie reflection of the rays of light I. 



Li line weather the drones, during the warmest part 

 of tlie day, take their flights ; and it is then that they 

 pair with the queen in mid air, the result being- inva- 

 riably the death of the drone. No one has yet disco- 

 vered, unless the proceedings observed by Debraw and 

 Bonnet may be so interpreted, that when in the hive 

 they take any share in the business of it, their great 

 employment within doors being to eat. Their life how- 

 ever is of very short duration, the eggs that produce 

 drones being laid in tlie course of April and May, and 

 their destruction being usually accomplished in the 

 months of July and August. The bees then, as jM. 

 Huber observes, chase them a])out, and pursue ti)em 

 to the bottom of the hives, where they asseml>le in 

 crowds. At the same time numerous carcases of drones 

 may be seen on the ground before the hives. Hence he 

 conjectured, though he never could detect them en- 

 gaged in this work upon the combs, that they were 

 stung to death by the w orkers. To ascertain how their 

 death was occasioned, he caused a table to be glazed, 

 on which he placed six hives, and under this table he 



* Ucaum V, 503— " ilubcr, i, ^1— " Ibid. 37— 



