CHAPTER IV. 

 THE DRONES. 



Distinguishing Characteristics — Time of Hatching — Numbers — Pur- 

 poses served by them — Destruction by Workers or other means — 

 Unusual Survival. 



The drones are the male population of the bee- 

 community. In general form they are more cylin- 

 drical than the queens or workers. They are shorter 

 than the former, but larger and more robust than the 

 latter. Their colour is of a deeper brown, and they 



Fig. 8.— a Drone. 



are much more hairy, especially at the lower ex- 

 tremity. Their wings are strong, and greater in 

 proportion to the length of their bodies than those of 

 the females or neuters, reaching, indeed, to the full 

 extent of their abdomen. The posterior expansion 



