﻿156 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  G. 
  Desborough 
  on 
  the 
  

  

  preceding 
  autumn 
  by 
  the 
  worker 
  bees 
  ; 
  we 
  can 
  therefore 
  date 
  the 
  

   birth 
  of 
  drones 
  with 
  accuracy. 
  The 
  drones 
  generally 
  make 
  their 
  

   appearance 
  in 
  May, 
  in 
  stocks 
  unusually 
  strong; 
  they 
  may 
  occa- 
  

   sionally, 
  but 
  rarely, 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  April, 
  and 
  drone 
  brood 
  may 
  be 
  

   found 
  in 
  hives 
  so 
  late 
  as 
  August 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  uncommon 
  to 
  see 
  

   drone 
  grubs 
  and 
  the 
  pupa 
  in 
  various 
  stages 
  brought 
  out 
  from 
  the 
  

   hives 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  the 
  annual 
  massacre 
  of 
  the 
  matured 
  drones 
  takes 
  

   place; 
  total 
  extermination 
  of 
  that 
  class 
  being 
  evidently 
  the 
  object 
  

   of 
  the 
  workers. 
  

  

  The 
  ordinary 
  limit 
  to 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  male 
  bee 
  may 
  thus 
  with 
  

   certainty 
  be 
  embraced 
  in 
  the 
  period 
  extending 
  from 
  April 
  to 
  Sep- 
  

   tember, 
  but 
  that 
  period 
  is 
  only 
  the 
  one 
  allowed 
  to 
  the 
  drones 
  by 
  

   the 
  worker 
  bees, 
  and 
  the 
  natural 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  drone 
  may 
  be 
  con- 
  

   sidered 
  more 
  the 
  object 
  of 
  inquiry 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  essay 
  than 
  the 
  

   period 
  during 
  which 
  the 
  drones 
  are 
  permitted 
  to 
  live. 
  

  

  That 
  the 
  drones 
  would 
  exist 
  for 
  a 
  longer 
  period 
  if 
  the 
  workers 
  

   did 
  not 
  destroy 
  them, 
  is 
  evinced 
  by 
  the 
  fact, 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  hive 
  when 
  

   by 
  any 
  accident 
  the 
  queen 
  is 
  not 
  impregnated 
  (and 
  this 
  more 
  fre- 
  

   quently 
  happens 
  to 
  a 
  cast), 
  the 
  drones 
  still 
  remain 
  in 
  the 
  hive 
  long 
  

   after 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  September; 
  but 
  the 
  very 
  circumstance 
  of 
  their 
  

   remaining 
  in 
  the 
  hive 
  unfortunately 
  deprives 
  us 
  of 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  

   noting 
  the 
  duration 
  of 
  life 
  in 
  the 
  drone, 
  because 
  the 
  stock 
  being 
  

   in 
  an 
  unnatural 
  state 
  from 
  the 
  barrenness 
  of 
  the 
  queen, 
  dwindles 
  

   away 
  and 
  dies, 
  drones 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  workers, 
  generally 
  about 
  the 
  

   month 
  of 
  December, 
  or 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  January, 
  and 
  this 
  closes 
  the 
  

   scene 
  of 
  our 
  observations 
  ; 
  whilst 
  were 
  we 
  to 
  remedy 
  the 
  evil 
  by 
  

   furnishing 
  the 
  stock 
  with 
  a 
  fertile 
  queen, 
  an 
  immediate 
  slaughter 
  

   of 
  the 
  drones 
  would 
  take 
  place. 
  It 
  may 
  here 
  be 
  observed, 
  that 
  it 
  

   is 
  not 
  always 
  permitted 
  to 
  the 
  drones 
  to 
  exist 
  so 
  late 
  as 
  July 
  or 
  

   August, 
  but 
  occasionally 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  populous 
  colony 
  the 
  drones 
  are 
  

   killed 
  and 
  turned 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  hive 
  in 
  May 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  

   June, 
  and 
  frequently, 
  though 
  not 
  invariably, 
  a 
  second 
  destruction 
  

   of 
  drones 
  takes 
  place 
  at 
  the 
  usual 
  period 
  ; 
  this 
  double 
  destruction 
  

   of 
  drones 
  has 
  not 
  yet, 
  as 
  we 
  are 
  aware, 
  been 
  satisfactorily 
  ex- 
  

   plained, 
  but 
  one 
  fact 
  may 
  be 
  recorded 
  which 
  may 
  assist 
  in 
  solving 
  

   the 
  mystery 
  — 
  that 
  when 
  an 
  early 
  slaughter 
  of 
  the 
  drones 
  takes 
  

   place, 
  the 
  stock 
  of 
  bees 
  will 
  not 
  swarm 
  that 
  season. 
  

  

  Having 
  thus 
  seen, 
  that 
  under 
  all 
  circumstances 
  whilst 
  the 
  hive 
  

   is 
  in 
  a 
  natural 
  state, 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  drones 
  is 
  a 
  merely 
  permis- 
  

   sive 
  one 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  worker 
  bees, 
  and 
  that 
  whenever 
  the 
  

   state 
  of 
  the 
  stock 
  is 
  such 
  as 
  to 
  cause 
  the 
  workers 
  to 
  permit 
  the 
  

   drones 
  to 
  live, 
  they 
  exist 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  workers 
  themselves 
  ; 
  we 
  

  

  