THE BEE FAMILY 



while the drones from our own apiaries will 

 succeed in fertilizing the virgins from any 

 common stock, until most of the neighboring 

 bees will in time be of pure blood. 



When about nine days old a virgin sallies 

 forth, and high in the air is mated to a drone 

 who inserts an amount of seminal fluid into 

 her spermatheca, and the single impregnation 

 is sufficient for her lifetime, during which she 

 may lay nearly half a million eggs. 



When a virgin sails forth she is usually beset 

 by a large number of drones, and with these 

 in pursuit she flies very rapidly, so that she is 

 overtaken only by the strongest, nature thus 

 insuring vigor in her offspring. 



A strange fact concerning the mating of the 

 queen is that the drone usually dies immediately 

 after he has accomplished his purpose, as the 

 end of his existence has been fulfilled, and the 

 queen returns to the hive with the male organs 

 still clinging to her; these in time are either 

 pulled away by the workers or else shrivel 

 and dry up. 



43 



