WINTER WORK ON THE BEE-FARM 91 
the whole brood-space in the hive available for the 
generation of the working bee alone.” 
‘* But,” I asked him, ‘‘ are not drones absolutely 
necessary in a hive? The population cannot 
increase without the male bees.’’ 
““Good drones are just as important in a bee- 
garden as high-mettled, prolific queens,’’ he said; 
“and drone-breeding on a small scale must form 
part of the work on every modern bee-farm of any 
size. But my own practice is to confine the drones 
to two or three hives only. These are stationed in 
different parts of the farm. They are always 
selected stocks of the finest and most vigorous 
strain, and in them I encourage drone-breeding in 
every possible way. But the male bees in all 
honey-producing hives are limited to a few hundreds 
at most.” 
Coming out into the darkness from the brilliantly- 
lighted building, we had gone some way on our 
homeward road through the crowded bee-farm 
before we marked the change that had come over 
the sky. Heavy vaporous clouds were slowly 
driving up from the west and blotting the stars out 
one by one. All their frosty sparkle was gone, and 
the night air had no longer the keen tooth of winter 
in it. The bee-master held up his hand. 
“Listen! ’’ he said. “ Don’t you hear any- 
thing? ” 
I strained my ears to their utmost pitch. A dog 
barked forlornly in the distant village. Some night- 
bird went past overhead with a faint jangling cry. 
But the slumbering bee-city around us was as silent 
and still as death. 
‘When you have lived among bees for forty 
