254: f DKONE BEES. 



royal jelly, that stimulating and nutritious extract prepared 

 only for the queen, her infancy is supported on the simple fare 

 of Bee-bread, which while it suffices to bring to maturity 

 every useful endowment of activity, affords no food for the 

 development of the sensual and vindictive passions, and with 

 all these smothered in the cradle, our worker comes forth, 

 mature in all Apian excellence, modest in habits, a nun 

 among Insects, and a very " sister of charity" among her 

 fellows. 



Thus much for the queen and commonalty, the females of 

 the hive ; and now for the three or four hundred of the opposite 

 sex, who, as partakers of the royal favour, or as candidates for 

 the same, as well as for their worthless qualities, may fairly be 

 compared to the aristocracy of a state, where birth, not worth, 

 makes the man. "We need not describe the Drone, whether of 

 a biped or of a Bee community, since the one is a pattern of, 

 and lends name to, the other. The chief difference between 

 them is this, that biped Drones are to be seen every day of the 

 year, while Bee-drones are to be only seen, because they are 

 only allowed to exist, during those days of summer which 

 intervene betwixt April and August. And truly, living, as 

 they do, to eat, a quarter's span of luxurious existence, at the 

 expense of those who only eat to live, is a tolerably fair pro- 

 portion. Such at least would seem to be the opinion of the 

 workers of the hive ; for the queen, having meanwhile chosen 

 a royal partner, or partners, from among them, the whole 



