THE DRONE. 55 



The cappings of drones'-cells are more convex than those of 

 workers, and as in the cafe of both queen and worker, are porous. 

 They contain not nearly so many pores as those of the former, 

 but far more than that of the latter. When the inmates of these 

 cells have completed their larval stage and are entering upon that 

 of the chrysalides, they are sealed or capped over with a mixture 

 of wax and pollen. The shape and texture of the cappings are 

 such that they are easily thrust off by the mature inmate. The 

 inmatea of the cells spin the cocoon by which they are enclosed, 

 but the construction of the cappings is the work of nurse bees. 

 The cappings of brood-cells differ greatly from those of honey cells ; 

 these latter are not nearly so convex — in fact, are in the centre 

 slightly concave, so as to more easily resist the pres&ure of the 

 honey within ; they are, moreover, formed entirely of wax, and 

 are therefore air-tight. 



In developing, the drone goes through the same metamor- 

 phoses as the other inmates, but the time occupied ^herein is 

 longer. From the laying of the egg to its hatching occupies three 

 days, he remains six and a-half days in a larval form, then changes 

 into a chrysalis and becomes a perfect insect in from twenty-four 

 to twenty-five days. During his larval stage he is fed for about 

 the first four days on 55.91 albumen, 11.9 fatty substances, and 

 sugar 9.57 parts, but as the larva advancesi in age the two former 

 are decreased and the sugar increased, the average being 43.79, 

 8.32, and 24.03 respectively. 



In the wing he is more expansive, as the following measure- 

 ments of Cheshire will show : — 



Length of Length of Ratios of 



Anterior Posterior United 



Wing. Wing. Area. 



Worker 38 28 5 



Queen 41 29 6 



Drone 49 35 9 



These measurements are given in one-hundredths of an inch. 

 From this it will be seen that the expansion of a drone's wing is 

 nearly twice that of a worker, and one-third more than that of 'a 

 queen. Therefore his aerial locomotive power must be 



greater than either of the females. His antennae (or- 

 gans of smell) have also a greater development of olfac- 

 tory nerves, and are two-thirteenths longer than either 

 that of queen or worker, thus his power of smelling 

 is far superior to theirs. His eyes, notwithstanding he spends a 



