94 THE beekeepers' directory. 



the apiary. The drone is a consumer and not a producer 

 of honey. I think one drone requires three times as much 

 food for his existence as one worker bee does. More or less 

 drones will be reared in every colony and "all the measures 

 taken to prevent it will be futile in most caseSj When drones 

 are needed the bees find a way of rearing them. If no 'drone- 

 comb is to be found in the hive, the bees will cut away the 

 worker-brood-comb, at one corner of the frame and build 

 drone cells therein. If there are any holes in the combs 

 such as the bees usually use for passage-ways from one comb 

 to another, such openings will be utilized for drone-brood. 

 I have known drones to be reared on one side of a comb, 

 while worker-brood was reared on the side opposite, notv^ith- 

 standing the fact that some writers assert that such a thing 

 never happens. 



Drones are required in the apiary most of the time from 

 May 1 to Sept. 20, and in queen-rearing apiaries a month 

 later. One hive containing one thousand drones is sufficient 

 for an apiary of several hundred colonies, although I think 

 it is generally understood that a colony will do better if it 

 has the company of a few drones. I have known colonies to 

 rear so many drones that it required all the worker force of 

 that particular to supply them with food. 



There are two periods during the warm months when drones 

 are reared. The first batch from May to the middle of June ; 

 the second from August to Sept. 10. Considering that these 

 useless bees are such largA consumers of honey, should not 

 some way be devised for the destruction of a 'portion of their 

 number ? 



The first year I kept bees I saw the necessity Of some de- 

 vice by which many of the drones could be destroyed. I was 

 not long in arranging a trap that was the means of catching 

 over one thousand drones the first day it was placed on a 

 hive. 



Although I used a drone-trap for twenty years before the 

 introduction of perforated metal, yet they were not so con- 

 structed as to be considered practical or to be adopted by 

 beekeepers generally. The main features of the traps I 

 used were not changed by the addition of the perforated 

 metal. The latter was the thing required to perfect the trap, 

 aad make it practical for general use. 



