THE DRONES. 31 



The first drones of the season appear generally 

 about the middle of April, but they are most numer- 

 ously hatched in May and June. The actual number 

 in a hive varies from 500 to 2,000. Only one or two 

 of these will become the mates of as many young 

 queens, and the question is often asked, What can be 

 the use of such an immense superfluity of males ? The 

 best answer that can be given is, that it is extremely 

 important, considering the dangers to which a virgin 

 queen is exposed in her flight from the hive, that 

 there should be no difficulty for her in meeting with 

 a spouse. When drones are scarce, and a very early 

 swarm has issued from a hive, it happens sometimes 

 that the young queen remaining at the head of the 

 stock has to make several flights before finding a 

 mate. As she is liable to be snapped up by birds, 

 or driven away by gusts of wind, or lost through not 

 knowing her own hive, it is manifestly far safer for 

 the supply of drones to be large enough to insure a 

 meeting on the first occasion of her flying. 



It has been suggested by some bee-keepers that 

 the eggs are fertilised in the cells by the drones, after 

 the manner of the ova of fishes ; but this theory is 

 utterly untenable in view of the fact that much 

 brood is found in the hives at seasons when, as a 

 rule, no drones exist, i.e. in the early spring and 

 late autumn. 



From a reference to drones in the Troades of 

 Euripides (lines 191 195), it would almost seem that 

 the ancient Greeks, five centuries before Christ, had 

 an idea that the male bees were the door-keepers of 

 the hives, and the guardians of the young. We 

 know, however, that this is not the case. 



