172 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



tile (that is, which lays both worker and male eggs,) this 

 is the unhappy fate of the drones ; yet in those where 

 the queen only lays male eggs, they are suffered to re- 

 main unmolested ; and in hives deprived of their queen, 

 they also find -a secure asylum*. 



What it is that, in the former instance, excites the 

 fury of the bees against the males, is not easy to dis- 

 cover ; but some conjecture may perhaps be formed from 

 the circumstances last related. When only males are 

 produced by the queen, the bees seem aware that some- 

 thing more is wanted, and retain the males ; the same is 

 the case when they have no queen; and when one is 

 procured, they appear to know that she would not profit 

 them without the males. Their fury then is connected 

 with their utility : when the queen is impregnated, which 

 lasts for her whole life, as^ if they knew that the drones 

 could be of no further use, and would only consume 

 their winter stores of provision, they destroy them ; 

 which surely is more merciful than expelling them, in 

 which case they must inevitably perish from hunger. 

 But when the queen only produces males, their num- 

 bers are not sufficient to cause alarm ; and the same 

 reasoning applies to the case when there is no queen. 



Having brought the males from their cradle to their 

 untimely grave, and amused you with the little that is 

 known of their uneventful history, I shall now, at last, 

 call you to attend to the proceedings of the workers 

 themselves; and here I am afraid, long as I have de- 

 tained you, I must still press you to expatiate with me 



' Huber, i. 109. 



