54 THE BEE keeper's MANUAL. 



ness of the season, and strength of the stock. They require 

 about twenty-four days for their full development from the 

 egg. In colonies which are too weak to swarm, none, as a 

 general rule, are reared : they ate not needed, for in such 

 hives, as no young queens are raised, they would be only 

 useless consumers. 



The number of drones in a hive is often very great, 

 amounting, not merely to hundreds, but sometimes to thou- 

 sands. It seems, at first, very difficult to understand why 

 there should be so many, especially since it has been ascer- 

 tained that a single one will impregnate a queen for life. 

 But as intercourse always takes place high in the air, the 

 young queens are obliged to leave the hive for this purpose ; 

 and it is exceedingly important to their safety, that they 

 should be sure of finding one, without being compelled to 

 make frequent excursions. Being larger than a worker, 

 and less quick on the wing, they are more exposed to be 

 caught by birds, or blown down and destroyed by sudden 

 gusts of wind. 



In a large Apiary, a few drones in each hive, or the 

 number usually found in one, might be amply sufficient. 

 But it must be borne in mind, that under these circumstances, 

 bees are not in a state of nature. Before they were domes- 

 ticated, a colony living in a forest, often had no neighbors 

 for miles. Now a good stock in our climate, sometimes 

 sends out three or more swarms, and in the tropical climates, 

 of which the bee is a native, they increase with astonishing 

 rapidity. At Sydney, in Australia, a single colony is stated 

 to have multiplied to 300 in three years. All the new 

 swarms except the first; are led off by a young queen, 

 and as she is never impregnated until after she has been 

 established as the head of a separate family, it is important 

 that they should all be accompanied by a goodly number of 



