116 THE DRONES. 



compact appears for a time to be dissolved, anarchy 

 and disorder succeed to the former regular and 

 systematic exertion, and a strange and fiery excite- 

 ment pervades the population. Most correctly, there- 

 fore, does Shakspeare introduce the comparison, 



" The commons, like a hive of angT^r bees 

 ITiat want their leader, scatter up and down." 



Second Part Henry IV., Act III. Sc. II. 



The drones, it is now well known, are the males of 

 the community, destroyed by the workers when no 

 longer required ; but preserved uninjured while the 

 welfare of the hive requires the continuance of their 

 existence. It is, perhaps, to the slaughter of the 

 drones, which takes place towards the end of sum- 

 mer, that the Poet alludes in the figurative expression, 



"The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum. 

 Delivering o'er to executors pale 

 The lazy yawning drone." 



There is nothing in the writings of Shakspeare to 

 imply that he was aware of the precise nature of the 

 functions of the drone-bees ; nay, on one occasion, he 

 introduces the word " drone" in a manner that must 

 be regarded as incorrect : — 



" Drones suck not eagle's blood, but rob bee-hives ; " 



{Second Part Henry VI., Act IV. Sc. I.) 



the robbery being a crime of which they cannot be 

 accused, although it may justly be charged against 



