480 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 8 



Bt;ili>. J\loari\vhile l!io victorious young queen 

 (Utncked anollier royal cell; but did not endeavor 

 to introduce her stinij: it contained only a nymph, 

 and not a perlijct queen as the former did. Hence 

 it has been conjectured, that the nymph? ofqueens 

 inspire leps animosity: f^tilltheydo not escape de- 

 struction, lor whenever a royal cell is opened he- 

 fore its proper time, the workers extract the con- 

 tents in wiiafever form they appear, wlieiher 

 worm, nymph, or queen. Accordingly when the 

 young (]uecn had here abandoned tiie second cell, 

 the opening which she had made was enlarged 

 by the bees, and they extracted the included 

 nymph. Nymphs of other hives, introduced into 

 one where there is a (jueen, are equally the sub- 

 ject of a^limosit3^ But in this general work of 

 destruction, there is a fact, in the natural history 

 of bees in their earlier stages, elucidated, ivliich 

 we should othervviso find it difficult to explain. 

 The larva? of the whole three species are endow- 

 ed with a property widely diffused among insects, 

 that of spinning silk. Each, as we have belbre 

 observed, spins itself a web or cocoon, in which it 

 reposes a certain time inactive, previous to trans- 

 formation to the perfect state. The larva? of" 

 workers and males, spin complete cocoons close at 

 both ends; the cocoons of queens are imperli?ct, 

 covering only the head, th.orax, and first ring of 

 the abdomen. Nor can the larvfe do otherwise; 

 the particular form and position of the cell force it 

 to leave the ends of the cocoon open, while in the 

 natural slate; but if removed from it, and situated 

 in the same circumstances as the larvte of males 

 and workers, a complete cocoon is fabricated, in 

 which the animal is fully enveloped. But the 

 purpose of the open cocoon is only now to be dis- 

 covered; it is, that the enclosed nymph may be 

 exposed, without resistance, to the deadly jealousy 

 of its rivals. Were it close, the sting of the queen, 

 which seems never to be used excepting to destroy 

 hev own species, might be entangled in the silk, 

 l)y which she herself might become the sacrifice, 

 and occasion the loss of the whole hive. 



Though only a single female can exist in a 

 swarm, several hundreds, and sometimes thou- 

 sands, of drones inhabit it. They originate to- 

 wards the summer season, eleven months after 

 the queen has commenced laying those egirs that 

 become workers, that is, when the propagation of 

 the colony takes place. The sole office of the 

 drones, so far as has yet been discovered, is to fe- 

 cundate the queen ; for we can scarely admit, as 

 several authors have done, that their heat and 

 custom of crowding on the combs is instrumental 

 in hatching the young brood. Concerning the 

 structure of the genital organs, which are ex- 

 tremely complicated, we shall refljr to the works of 

 Swammerdam, Reaumur, and Huber, who have 

 expatiated on it at great length. Drones want a 

 sting; and there is a difference in the conformn- 

 tion of several other parts oi the body, as the trunk 

 and antennce, from those of females and workers. 

 They do not collect honey, but consume if; and 

 instead of entering the cells, as the females and 

 workers do, for repose, they cluster together on the 

 combs. If the sole office of drones be to fl'cun- 

 date the queen, we cannot well account for their 

 numbers. Why should thousands dwell in a hive 

 a burden on the community, when one is enough 

 to perpetuate their race, and when only a single 

 iu)prcgnation is required? Naturalists, who have 



ascribed the fecundation of the queen bee to a cer- 

 tain aura emanating from the males, judged it es- 

 sential that they should be in numbers, that the 

 aura might have sufficient power or intensity. 

 Those observers, again, who have demonstrated, 

 that impregnation ia operated without the hive, 

 deem it necessary that the drones should be nu- 

 merous, otherwise the queen would have little 

 chance of meeting any one in her course through 

 the air: and others, even the most acute persons, 

 who allowed themselves to believe, that here the 

 solicitation was on the part of the li^niale, thouflrht 

 that this redundancy of maleswas given, in order 

 that she might make her choice. These reasons 

 are to us alike unsatisfactory: the first, from ita 

 being utterly adverse to the laws which regulate 

 the preservation of animals; the second, (rom 

 resting on no surer basis than on simple conjee^ 

 tare, still unsanctioned by evidence; and the third, 

 fi-om being a conclusion on facts which never hap- 

 pen. Nevertheless it is unciuestionable, that a 

 hive, deprived of drones, will produce no young, 

 though we cannot form an idea of the precise 

 number necessary lor the ends of generation. 



Alier a particular period of the year, when the 

 queen has been impregnated, and when the mas- 

 culine properties of the drones are no longer of 

 any use, they are mercilessly destroyed by those 

 very workers which once watched so carefully 

 over their origin. This is a lisct well known, and 

 has given birth to various hypothesis. In Britain,, 

 as in other countries, the period of the massacre 

 probably depends on the advancement of the sea- 

 son, and always happens during the autumn 

 months. The drones then flying from destruction, 

 are seen on the flowers, occupying the panes of 

 our windows, or wandering about from hive to 

 hive, Avhich they no sooner enter than death 

 awaits iliem. This incident occurs sooner on the 

 continent, where the seasons are earlier, compared 

 with ours ; and we shall cite the substance ol some 

 observations by a Swiss naturalist, by which it is 

 materially illustrated. "It is usually in the months 

 of July and August that the bees free themselves 

 of the males. They are at that time driven away 

 and pursued to th^' inmost parts of the hive, where 

 they collect in numbers : and as many are then 

 found dead on the ground, it was to be concluded 

 that, after being expelled the hive, they are stung 

 to death by the bees. Yet, on the sur/iice of the 

 comb, tlie sting is never observed to be used 

 against them ; the bees sectm satisfied with pursu- 

 ing and chasing them away. To ascertain the 

 truth, we thought of getting the support of the 

 hive made of glass, and of placing ourselves be- 

 low, to discover what passed in the scene of action. 

 A glass table was therefore constructed, on which 

 six hives containing swarms of the same year 

 ^■^•."^e put, and lying under it, we endeavored to 

 sre in what manner the drones were destroyed. 

 Uur contrivance succeeded to admiration: on the 

 4ih of July, we saw the workers actually massa- 

 cre the n)ales in the whole six swarms, at the 

 same hour, and with the same peculiarities. The 

 irlass table was covered with bees ilill of anima- 

 tion, which flew on the drones as the}' came from 

 the bottom of the hives ; seized them by the an- 

 tenna?, the wings, and the limbs ; and, after hav- 

 ing dragged them about, or, so to speak, after 

 quartering them, they killed the unfortunate vic- 

 tims by repealed slings, directed between the rings 



