§ in.] THE DRONE. 23 



as to which is also confirmed by a fact noticed by Mr. 

 Langstroth, that if a drone is taken between the fingers 

 and squeezed, as one would squeeze a wasp to cause 

 protrusion of the sting, it will give a crack and shrivel 

 up dead as if struck by lightning. The instance in point 

 was also communicated to the Bee jFmcrnal through this 

 gentleman, it having been noticed, on a July afternoon 

 in i860, by his friend Mr. W. W. Gary, of Coleraine, 

 Massachusetts. The queen was returning from a pre- 

 sumably unsuccessful flight, when a drone met her at 

 about three feet from the hive entrance; a sharp snap 

 was heard almost directly, and the male fell to the 

 ground perfectly dead. The other case was witnessed 

 by the Rev. Mr. MLllette, of Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania, 

 and occurred in June 1859, during the process of hiving. 

 A young queen — there were four in the swarm — "was 

 observed on the wing, and in a moment after was seized 

 by a drone. After flying about a rod they both came to 

 the ground in close contact ; . . . the drone was about 

 departing (having broken loose) . . . but after crawling 

 about ... in a very few minutes it expired " — the cir- 

 cumstance being probably quite exceptional in this lapse 

 of minutes, and it is unfortunate that we have no infor- 

 mation as to the immediate or subsequent effect upon 

 the queen. 



As a general rule the royal lady, not meeting drones 

 straightway upon her issue from the hive, spends a little 

 time in reconnoitring her home, and then, often not till 



