12 THE APIARY. 



be easily distinguished by their heavy motion, thick- 

 set form, and louder humming-. Evans thus describes 

 the drones : — 



" Their short proboscis sips 

 No luscious nectar from the wild thyme's lips ; 

 From the lime leaf no amber drops they steal, 

 Nor bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal : 

 On others' toils, in pampered leisure, thrive 

 The lazy fathers of the industrious hive ; 

 Yet oft, we're told, these seeming idlers share 

 The pleasing duties of parental care ; 

 With fond attention guard each genial cell, 

 And watch the embryo bursting from t'ne shell." 



But Dr. Evans had been "told " what was not correct 

 when he sought to dignify drones with the office of 

 " nursing fathers," — that task is undertaken by the 

 younger of the working bees. No occupation falls to 

 the lot of the drones in gathering honey, nor have they 

 the means provided them by Nature for assisting in the 

 labours of the hive. The drones are the progenitors of 

 working bees, and nothing more ; so far as is knov/n, 

 that is the only purpose of their short existence. 



In a well-populated hive the number of drones is com- 

 puted at from one to two thousand. " Naturalists," says 

 Huber, "have been extremely embarrassed to account 

 for the number of males in most hives, and which seem 

 only a burden to the community, since they appear to 

 fulfil no function. But we now begin to discern the object 



