FERTILE WORKERS 95 
where but a few hundred bees remain, and yet be revived with 
eareful attention. 
The Drone.—The sole purpose that the drone (Fig. 49) 
serves is the perpetuation of the species. As one mating is 
sufficient for the entire life period of the queen, except in rare 
instances when the first mating is not a complete one, not one 
drone in a hundred will ever have opportunity to serve the pur- 
pose for which nature designed him. The over-abundance of 
drones is a severe tax on the production of the hive. Nature 
provides for emergencies by producing large numbers of drones, 
to insure the presence of a male at the time and place of emer- 
gence of a virgin queen. In a 
large apiary, however, where 
many colonies are present, there ( 
is little danger but that this need 
will be met even though the bee- 
keeper take great care to reduce 
the production of drones to the 
minimum. Drones appear in 
the hive during the productive 
period of the summer. In 
April or May when brood rear- | -- 
ing is active they will be seen i emacs 
and will continue about the apiary until the close of the honey 
flow in late fall, unless there is a dearth of nectar, when they will 
be summarily driven from the hive to perish. 
The drones are reared in cells of the same shape as the worker 
cells (Fig. 50). They are, however, somewhat larger in size, 
and the cappings are raised like rifle bullets. These high arched 
cappings will show at a glance the presence of drone brood in 
the hive. 
The practical bee-keeper reduces the available space for 
drone brood to the minimum by using full sheets of foundation 
in all brood frames. Where full sheets are used there will be but 
little drone comb built. A few cells here and there in the corners 
