26 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



But why so many idle fellows in a commimity remark- 

 able for industry and activity 1 



It is easier to ask the question than to answer it. They 

 are produced for a purpose, and that is the impregnation 

 of queens. "When the importance of this impregnation is 

 considered, the apparent want of economy iu the produc- 

 tion of so many otherwise useless creatures will not he 

 wondered at. The time given for this impregnation is 

 very limited — ten or twelve days at most. When weather 

 is cold or wet, drones do not leave their hives ; and even 

 when the weather is fair and favourable, they do not all 

 leave their hives at the same time. As the reader is 

 already aware that copulation takes place outdoors — it 

 may he at some distance from the hive — he will see at 

 once why so many drones are usually produced. Better 

 to have a superabundance of 10,000 drones than the queen 

 fail to meet one. The more drones in a hive — indeed, the 

 more hives in a garden — when a queen becomes marriage- 

 able, the more likely is she to be seen and mated when 

 she leaves on that errand. 



Queens and drones, the product of one mother, mate 

 without the least deterioration of blood. In-and-in breed- 

 ing amongst bees for generations and ages does not in 

 the smallest degree produce bad results. 



The great characteristic of a drone bee is his laziness. 

 He wiU die of want rather than- work. Drones have 

 never been known to do "a hand's turn." In fact it is a 

 question whether they feed themselves in the midst of 

 plenty. "We daresay they do sometimes ; but how fre- 

 quently are they to be seen stooping down to be fed by the 

 working bees ! If the reader has seen young sparrows or 

 pigeons fed by the old ones, he will be able to form a pretty 

 correct idea as to the way in which the working bees 

 pump honey out of their bags into those of the drones. 



