THE INHABITANTS OF THE HIVE 35 



slain when the honey harvest runs low, and mean- 

 while they are denied all interests in the business 

 of the colony except that of pensioners upon its 

 bounty. And he, the fortunate one, who lives his 

 life to its fullest measure and becomes queen consort 

 must in the end lose his life for love and die, heart- 

 lessly abandoned by her whom he sought and won. 



In appearance the drone differs much from the 

 queen and the worker; he is broad, and the rear end 

 of his body is so blunt that it looks almost as if it had 

 been cut off with shears. He is made for a life of 

 idleness; his hind legs bear no pollen baskets, so he 

 could not fetch and carry if he would; his tongue 

 is so short that he must needs eat from honey stored 

 in a cell or be fed by his sisters, since he could not 

 possibly extract nectar from a deep flower; nor is 

 there any occasion that he should hang suspended 

 weary hours for the secretion of wax, since he has 

 no wax glands. His special accomplishment is his 

 buzz, which is of extraordinary calibre and sonor- 

 ousness. So fierce and loud is this, the song he sings 

 when on the wing, that the novice feels inclined to 

 retreat before him. But this music is undoubtedly 

 meant to attract a queen to his vicinity, and is by no 

 means a sound of menace; he is a burly, good- 

 natured fellow, who is obliged to express himself 

 in this rather coarse song. The term "good 

 natured" is applied to him, not because we are 

 certain that his temper is sweet, but because he has 

 no means of expressing ill temper should he experi- 

 ence it, since niggard nature has given him no sting. 



