State Bee-Keepers' Association. 103 



laying eggs, that will become either workers or queens, but continues to lay 

 eggs which produce only drones. The period of fertility lasts from two to 

 three years, and cannot be depended on longer safely. All such queens 

 should be destroyed and fertile ones introduced, that the colony may not 

 become extinct . 



WORKER BEES. 



They constitute the mass of the colony, and upon them devolve all the 

 labors of the hive. The> gather the honey and pollen — the food for the 

 young. They nurse and feed the young brood, and defend their house 

 against invasion of enemies. The care which the workers bestow upon their 

 nurslings is wonderful, and they manifest the most tender attachment for 

 them. The slightest movement of these nurses approaching to administer 

 to the young brood is sufficient to attract them to their food which they 

 devour voraciously, and it is unsparingly administered. After the cells have 

 been sealed up they seem to cease from anything like attention, although if 

 the brood comb is meddled with, their utmost ire is kindled. Bees reared 

 in the spring and early summer are shorter lived than those reared later in 

 the season . Each worker is armed with a formidable sting, and when dis- 

 turbed does not hesitate to use it. The extremity being barbed the bee can 

 rarely withdraw it, and in losing her sting she loses her life and dies in de- 

 fending her home and sacred treasures. 



DRONES. 



The "gentleman of leisure," who leads an easy life, taking no thought 

 of the morrow. They toil not, neither do they spin, but let others bear the 

 heat and burden of the day. They differ from the queen and worker in form 

 and structure and are of a darker color and less active. They have no pro- 

 boscis forgathering honey; no basket for pollen; no sack for wax; and no 

 sting to defend themselves with. They seem to be a necessary evil, con- 

 suming the fruits of the labor performed by others. Yet without them the 

 brood would soon become extinct. Microscopic examination shows that 

 they are the males of the bee family, and in the performance of the functions 

 appointed to them, they invariably yield up their life. The duties devolving 

 upon them are to accompany the young queens upon their bridal tour. In 

 the performance of the same their life becomes the sacrifice. In July and 

 August if there seems to be a prospect of a short supply of honey, the 

 laborers set up a vigorous persecution, driving them from or into a corner of 

 the hive, and when through hunger and captivity, they become weakened, 

 and being without a sting, unable to defend themselves, they fall helpless 

 victims to their fearful onslaughts . They rush upon them and sting them 

 with such fury that they die at once. They seize them by their wings and 

 gnaw them in such a manner as to prevent their escape by flight, and crawl- 

 ing off death overtakes them . 





