DEONES. 11 



the centre, drones will put in an appearance long before 

 the hive is ready for swarming ; and if on the outside of 

 the combs, the hive will be ready for swarming about the 

 time drones are first hatched. Their appearance in a hive 

 is therefore no safe guide as to its ripeness for swarming. 



Drones are twenty-four days in being hatched from 

 eggs — that is, they come to perfection in twenty-four 

 days, being three days longer in their cells than workers, 

 and ten days longer than queens. 



But why so many idle fellows in a community remark- 

 able for industry and activity ? It is easier to ask this 

 question than to answer it. They are produced for a pur- 

 pose, and that is the impregnation of the queens. When 

 the importance of this impregnation is considered, the 

 apparent want of economy in the production of so many 

 otherwise useless creatures will not be wondered at. The 

 time given for this fertilisation is limited to 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 aU leave their hives at the 

 same time. As the reader is already aware that copula- 

 tion takes place outdoors — it may be at some distance 

 from the hive — he wiU more easily understand 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 — indeed, the more hives in. a 

 garden — when a queen becomes marriageable, the more 

 likely is she to be seen and mated when she leaves on 

 that errand. 



Queens and drones, the produce 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 



