THE DRONE. 57 



Very little attention has been given to the production of high- 

 -class drones. They are the Ishmaela of bee life. Every bee- 

 !keeper's hand is against them. They have been given a bad name, 

 and it sticks to them, and all sorts of traps have been invented 

 for their destruction. For the improvement of other domesticated 

 animals a high-class sire is the one most sought after. In the 

 improvement of bees it is otherwise. A high-class dam (queen) 

 is supposed to be the one thing needful. We have the mating 

 proclivities of bees so little under control that breeding by the 

 •selection of males appears to be a thing of the future. As we 

 now stand, much can be done to improve our bees by the power 

 we have in our hands. An immediate descendant partakes of 

 the mental, physical, and industrial character of both parents. 

 Traits in parentage can be traced for many generations, and there 

 must be an influence exerted on a descendant from both sides. 

 Parthenogenesis, as it regards drones, has been proved to have 

 exceptions. Bee-keepets have frequently met with cross-bred 

 .drones. J. Lowe, in 1867, as recorded in Trans. Ent. Soc, says 

 that fully 20 per cent, of drones bred from the same mother showed 

 the mixed character of the parentage. J. Perez, in 1878 and 

 1880, in his investigations, obtained similar results, and P. Came- 

 ron, in an article on Parthenogenesis, in the Ilymenoptera, pub- 

 lished in the Trans. Nat. His. Soc. of Glasgow, 1888, drew 

 ibee-keepers' attention to similar facts. 



Some time ago we submitted the following series of questions 

 on this point to some of the most observant and practical bee- 

 keepers of the colony : — 



1st. Have we hybrid drones ? 



(The term hybrid to mean a crossbred. Hybrid is a mis- 

 nomer as applied to a cross between varieties. A hybrid is an 

 intermediate between species, variety is subordinate to species in 

 the same manner as species is subordinate to genus). 



2nd. What are the markings of the progeny between the first 

 .cross of a (pure Italian drone (Ligurian) and a black queen ? 



3rd. What are the markings of the progeny between the first 

 .cross of a black drone and a pure Italian (Ligurian) queen ? 



4th. A drone two removes from a pure Italian queen. What 

 are his markings ? 



5th. Through how many generations of drones can you trace 

 .Italian blood ? 



To all these, questions we received answers from every one to 



