54 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



drones, and the name they have so justly obtained, 

 of working bees, clearly denotes their superior in- 

 dustry in laboring for the whole colony. It is now 

 generally admitted that they are females, whose ova- 

 ries are not sufficiently developed to enable them to 

 become mothers ; yet they most undoubtedly possess 

 all the maternal affection and care for tbe young 

 of the colony, nursing them, so to speak, and sup- 

 plying all their wants ; in time of threatened danger 

 they will cling to them, and risk their lives to protect 

 them, as devotedly. as any mother could do for her 

 own offspring. 



I have never ascertained how many bees are re- 

 quired to constitute what is generally called a good 

 swarm, but authors estimate the number at from 

 fifteen to thirty thousand workers; this, of course, 

 will be varied very much by the season and other cir- 

 cumstances. This estimate would, perhaps, apply to 

 top-swarms from good sized hives. Bonner says that 

 about five thousand workers weigh a pound ; if this 

 estimate is correct, it would be easy, on hiving a 

 swarm, to ascertain its numbers, by first weighing 

 the hive and afterward both hive and swarm. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKER. 



The common worker bee, as well as the other two 

 varieties of that valuable insect, consists of three 

 parts. The head, which is attached to the thorax by 

 a slender kind of neck ; there are two eyes placed 

 in the head, of an oblong figure, dark brown or 

 nearly black, transparent and immovable ; the mouth 



