THE DRONE. ii 



early spring-, seldom live more than three or four months, 

 even if they should escape the sting of the executioner, 

 to which they generally fall victims. The worker-bee, it 

 is now a well-ascertained fact, lives from six to eight 

 months, in no case exceeding the latter ; so that we may 

 reckon that the bees hatched in April and May expire 

 about the end of the year ; and it is those of the autumn 

 who carry on the duties of the hive until the spring and 

 summer, that. being the time when the greatest number 

 of eggs are laid. The population of a hive is very small 

 during the winter, in comparison with the vast numbers 

 gathering produce in the summer, — produce which they 

 themselves live to enjoy but for a short period. So that 

 not only, as of old, may lessons of industry be learned 

 from bees, but they also teach self-denial to mankind, 

 since they labour for the community rather than for them- 

 selves. Evans, in describing the age of bees, thus para- 

 phrases the well known couplet of Homer, in allusion 

 to the fleeting generations of men : — 



" Like leaves on trees the race of bees is found. 



Now green in youth, now withering on the ground ; 

 Another race the spring or fall supplies. 

 They droop successive, and successive rise." 



THE DRONE. 



The drones are male bees ; they possess no sting, are 

 more hairy and larger than the common bee, and may 



