NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 2i) 



CHAPTER III. 



THE QUEEN, OB MOTHER-BEE J THE DRONES ; THE WORKERS J 

 FACTS IN THEIR NATURAL HISTORY. 



HONEY-BEES can flourish only when associated in large 

 numbers, as in a colony. In a solitary state, a single bee 

 is almost as helpless as a new-born child, being paralyzed 

 by the chill of a cool Summer night. 



If a strong colony preparing to swarm is examined, 

 three kinds of bees will be found in the hive. 



1st, One bee of peculiar shape, commonly called the 



2d, Some hundreds and often thousands of large bees, 

 called Drones. 



3d, Many thousands of a smaller kind, called Workers, 

 or common bees, such as are seen on the blossoms. Many 

 of the cells will be found to contain honey and bee-bread ; 

 and vast numbers, eggs and immature workers and 

 drones. A few cells of unusual size are devoted to the 

 rearing of young queens. On Plate XII, the queen, 

 drone, and worker are represented as magnified, and also 

 of the natural size. 



The queen-bee is the only perfect female in the hive, 

 and all the eggs are laid by her. The drones are the 

 males, and the workers, females whose ovaries, or " egg- 

 bags," are so imperfectly developed that they are incapa- 

 ble of breeding ; and which retain the instinct of females, 

 only so far as to take care of the brood. 



These facts have been demonstrated so repeatedly, that 

 they are as well established as the most common laws in 

 the breeding of our domestic animals. The knowledge 



