Vol. XTI. 



MAR. 15, 1888. 



No. 6. 



2CoviielfoTU.^,iiornhh;btOTU.W^,\Ji'St(l/biZSfh6Cv 7/71 J-O iO. 



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THE DKONE. 



OUH POOR SI^ANDERED DRONE ASKS FOR HIS DAY 

 IN COURT. 



fIRGIL, who was a great poet, but not enough 

 of a practical bee-keeper to know a laying 

 from a virgin queen, was the first writer of 

 much note to have his fling at me. To him I 

 was only an idle knave, born to consume the 

 fruits of others" labors, and deserving no better 

 fate than death, by ignominous expulsion from the 

 industrious commonwealth. Ever since he so gross- 

 ly libeled me, to compare one to a drone is the most 

 orthodox form of denunciation for laziness, glut- 

 tony, and what has been called "general cussed- 

 ness.'* 



Now, I am proud to say to this court that I can 

 disprove every charge brought against me, by 

 simply proving that, to the best of my ability, I ful- 

 fill the express object for which I was born. Surely 

 no creature can do any better than this, and excuse 

 me for thinking that few men do as well. 



CHARGED WITH LAZINESS. 



If any of my enemies had authority to call the 

 roll of my demerits, he would surely begin by accus- 

 ing me of being too lazy to gather any honey. But 

 an expert in points of this kind could remind him, 

 that, if he examines my ])roboscis, he will see that it 

 is much too short for sijiping nectar from the open- 

 ing fiowers. 



MAKES NO WAX. 



I am free to admit, that I make no wax; but even 

 Cheshire himself, whose microscopes have fairly 

 turned me inside out, will tell you that I have not a 



single wax-secreting gland, and am also without 

 those plastic, trowel-like jaws which enable the 

 worker-bee to mold the wax into such delicate 

 combs. 



GATHERS NO POLLEN. 



Now, do not insinuate that I might at least em- 

 ploy some of my leisure time in gathering pollen! 

 Can you not see that my thighs have no basket- 

 like grooves in which it could be packed, and are 

 quite destitute of the bristles by which the workers 

 hold the pollen in place? 



ACCUSED OF BEING A LAZY COWARD. 



No doubt you have often denounced me as a big, 

 hulking coward that leaves to the women the whole 

 defense of the state. Are you not aware that I 

 have nothing to fit me for acting on the offensive? 

 Would that lihad one proportioned to my bulk! if 

 only that I might make proof of it upon all who be- 

 rate me for not accomplishing impossibilities! 



I am not at all ashamed to admit that I spend the 

 most of my time, not given to eating, either in 

 sleeping or what you are pleased to call listless 

 moping about the hive. Has it never occurred to 

 you that, if I should try to assume the restless 

 activity of the worker-bee, I could be nothing better 

 than a meddlesome busy-body, perpetually inter- 

 fering with the necessary business routine ? I 

 guess the silly meddler who would put me up to 

 such nonsense ought more than once to have had a 

 dish-cloth pinned to his rear, to teach him not to 

 bother the women in their work ! 



MISUNDERSTOOD. 



I am sorry to number Shakespeare among those 

 who have misconceived me, by calling me "the 



