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time when nectar can be collected in the fields. This must be the 

 chief aim of the bee-keeper. The greater the number of worker 

 bees the hive contains at the right time, the greater will be the 

 profit. 



Drone. 



The drone is the male bee. There are usually two or three 

 hundred drones produced in all normal colonies. The number 

 depends to a great extent upon the number of drone cells in 

 the hive. Their function is to fertilise the young queens. At 

 the close of the honey season, when their services are no longer 

 required, they are turned out of the hive by the workers, and 

 left to die. The drone does not possess a sting, and has 

 no means of defending himself. Consequently he falls an easy 

 prey to the workers. Neither has he any means of procuring 

 his food in the fields, in consequence of his extremely rudi- 

 mentary tongue. He is therefore dependent upon the worker 

 for his sustenance. The drone is produced from an egg laid 

 by the queen in a drone cell. The time occupied to produce a 

 drone from the laying of the egg is 25 days. Drones from poor 

 colonies are undesirable, and should not be encouraged. To 

 improve the breed of bees, the bee-keeper should make a point 

 of raising a few hundred drones only from those colonies which 

 give the best returns. 



Position and arrangement of apiary. 



Beehives take up little room, and anyone with a small garden 

 can keep a few colonies of bees. This does not imply, however, 

 that any position will do for the hives, and on the selection of 

 a suitable site will depend in a large measure the success of the 

 bee-keeper. The site should be carefully selected. It should 

 be dry and free from weeds. It should be sheltered from the 

 north and east winds, and should face the south — which is the 

 most favourable aspect. Shelter from the north and east winds 

 will prevent much loss of life which usually occurs when the 

 hives are placed in an exposed position. Spreading ashes on 

 the surface will naturally assist in rendering the site dry, and 

 in suppressing the growth of weeds, which harbour insect pests 



