44 Beekeeping 



honey stomach (Fig. 60) is well developed. The workers never 

 mate with the drones and lay eggs only under abnormal 

 circumstances, which are discussed under Chapter VIII. 



Speaking in general terms, the length of life of worker bees 

 is measured not so much by days or weeks as by the amount 

 of work which they do. During the period when nectar is 

 being gathered abundantly, they literally work themselves 

 to death and the population of the colony is appreciably 

 decreased unless brood is being reared heavily. During 

 such a period, the average length of life of worker bees is 

 barely six weeks, while in periods when less work is necessary 

 the life is lengthened. Those bees which emerge in the early 

 autumn are the ones which live until the following spring. 

 During the active season, the majority of worker bees die 

 outside the hive, failing to return with the last load. Small 

 wonder that in addition to their other burdens they must 

 sometimes serve as examples of industry ! 



Drones. 



The males of the bee are known by this name. The use of 

 the word drone, meaning a lazy person, arose from the name 

 of the male bee, and it may be re-applied to them as fitting. 

 They are not a useful part of the colony organization in the 

 routine, for they do none of the work of the hive nor do they 

 assist in gathering. The only function of a drone is that of 

 mating with a young (virgin) queen and in this act it dies. 

 Drones are heavy consumers of stores and are not in favor 

 among beekeepers, so that their numbers are greatly reduced 

 in the modern apiary. This is done either by restricting the 

 number of cells in which they may be reared or by trapping 

 them after they emerge as adults. 



The drone is a large individual, exceeding even the queen 

 in girth of thorax. 1 The compound eyes (Fig. 69) are so 



1 This fact enables the beekeeper to trap out drones by means of the 

 Alley traps (Fig. 30), which have openings ^^ of an inch wide, 

 through which workers can pass but which are not large enough for most 

 drones and queens because of their larger thoraces. 



