THE DRONES. 33 



takes the trouble to watch what goes on in July and 

 August, will see that, for the most part, the neuters 

 seize their brethren by the wing, and drag them 

 from the entrance of the home. If much resistance 

 is made, they will persevere in trying to keep them 

 away ; but, at last, when patience is exhausted, they 

 will bite the wings underneath, and so render them 

 almost powerless. Harassed in these ways, and 

 prevented from taking food from the cells, the drones 

 die of starvation in large numbers. A few may be 

 stung to death. Many will creep to unfrequented 

 parts of the comb, in hope of escaping notice ; and if 

 a side box, or unoccupied back of a wooden hive, be 

 opened for them, they will congregate there. Mr. 

 Henry Taylor mentions in his Bee-Keepers Manual, 

 that, on one occasion, he found as many as 2,200 

 which had thus clustered in an empty side box. He 

 took them away, and the other bees went to work 

 with more vigour after having been thus relieved of 

 their useless population, as if they were glad to be 

 rid of those who were consumers, but non-producers. 



In many instances, especially when food-supplies 

 are running short, and are not easily replaceable, the 

 workers will drag out the just emerging drones from 

 their cells, together with pupae and larvae, and will 

 cast them forth to die. 



If no necessity for swarming occurs, through there 

 being plenty of room in the hive for the extension of 

 the colony, or for any other reason, either no royal 

 cells will be made, or the young princesses will be 

 destroyed as they approach maturity. In this case, 

 an unusually early destruction of the males will 

 occur, as the workers instinctively know there is little 



D 



