FARMER'S MANUAL* id\. 



CHAP. III. 

 On the Drones. 



The wings of the drone are shorter in proportion 

 to his body than the mules, or working Bees, which 

 occasions that humming sound which distinguishes 

 them in their flight. Nature has regulated the num- 

 ber of drones in each hive with a direct proportion 

 to the number of working Bees, from 4 to 8 and 1200, 

 and the fecundity of the queen according to the num- 

 ber of cells. The drone has no sting, and gathers 

 no food ; he, therefore, neither works nor fights, but 

 his whole utility in the hive consists in being an in- 

 strument of fecundating the eggs when deposited in 

 the cells, or otherwise as may be. 



The antenna of the drones possess eleven articu- 

 lations, and the other Bees have iifteen. Their eyes 

 cover all the upper part of the head, and the other 

 Bees have one oval eye upon each side of their head. 

 Their teeth are smaller, and their probosces shorter 

 than the common Bees ; and thus nature has prepar- 

 ed them for useful inoffensive animals in the hive* 

 Whenever you discover that a hive becomes deficient 

 in drones, (which sometimes happens,) you may re- 

 plenish such hive by catching a few from*some other 

 hive, as they pass and repass, generally about mid- 

 day ; confine them until evening, and you may then 

 introduce them to a general acceptance. Where a 

 want of drones is not sensibly felt, the new intruders 

 are sometimes murdered, by a general assault. For 

 safety, two or three may be introduced, and their re- 

 ception will decide what is best. When the season 

 of fecundation and gathering food are over, the work- 

 ing Bees assemble, and commence a general assault 

 upon the drones, drag them out of the hives, and de- 

 stroy the whole, by a general slaughter. Thus the 

 whole system of nature is finished for the season, in 

 the community of the Bees. 



