152 The Bee People. 



So you see the drone is not so useless 

 as he seems. Indeed, if it were not for 

 him, there could be no workers and no 

 queens. 



When she has taken her airing, Queen 

 Apis goes home, and she never leaves the 

 hive alone again. In fact, she never leaves 

 it at all, except at the end, when she goes 

 off with a swarm. 



As the season wears on, the workers take 

 counsel together. Winter is coming, and 

 what will become of them all if the supplies 

 give out? 



There must be no more mouths to feed 

 than necessary. The queen, of course, 

 must be taken care of, and so must the 

 workers; but there are the drones, per- 

 haps hundreds or even thousands of them. 

 They are no longer of any use : they bring 

 in no honey ; they do no work : they only 

 endanger the lives of the whole family by 

 eating up the winter food, so these little 

 brown workers, on the plea of necessity, 



