94 OCCUPANTS OF THE HIVE 
try their wings and to learn something of the location of the hive 
and surroundings. The first trip to the honey field will not be 
taken until later. 
Fertile Workers.—Occasionally, in a queenless colony, a 
worker will develop to the point of laying eggs. As she is incapa- 
ble of mating, her offspring will all be drones, which are of no 
value to the hive and the colony will soon perish. Fertile workers 
lay here and there over the com) with little regularity. Some- 
times several eggs will be found in the same cell, and the 
next cells will be empty. That the offspring are sieomes will be 
evidenced by the high arched cappings, like rifle bullets, which 
are peculiar to drone brood. 
Much has been written about methods of saving colonies 
with fertile workers, but the productive bee-keeper will have little 
time to bother with them. As a rule, the best plan is to unite 
the colony at once with another which has a good queen and 
thus save what bees are left. If fertile workers are present, 
several are usually to be found in the same hive. 
When the worker has served her purpose in life and can no 
longer render a service to the community, she will still persist 
in going to the field until she dies, or if she refuse to do so 
will be dragged from the hive in the most merciless manner by 
the busy sisters, whose only thought is for the prosperity of the 
community. With the social insects, such as the honey-bee, the 
community is everything, while the individual receives little 
consideration. 
Under normal conditions, a colony of bees will consist of per- 
haps 20,000 workers, a single queen, and a few dozen or possibly 
a few hundred drones. The number of drones will depend largely 
upon the kind of bee-keeper in whose apiary they reside. .\ very 
prolific queen with plenty of room, and otherwise favorable con- 
ditions, will produce such large numbers of eggs that possibly 
50,000 or more bees may be present at one time. Under unfavor- 
able conditions the colony may be reduced down to the point 
