136 



The Honey-Makers 



useless is sometimes sacrificed by her whilom attentive 

 subjects. As Pliny says, they know of nothing but what 

 is for the common benefit of all. 



The drones are the least tenacious of life of all the bees. 

 When sent in a mailing box with queen and workers, 

 several of them will generally arrive dead, and the others 

 soon die, every drone having disappeared as a rule before 

 a single worker succumbs. The drone is as easy to kill 

 as the queen is difficult, a very short application of chloro- 

 form being sufficient to end his term of existence. He is 

 more delicate than any of the bees, sipping daintily of pre- 

 pared sweets, flying only for pleasure in the warm sunshine, 

 disappearing with a breath or a rude touch. Since he 

 dies so easily it may be that death is not painful to him ; he 

 struggles not, but passes on. 



His wing music is more sonorous than that of the other 

 bees, giving a droning sound, from which he gets his 

 name and by which he is easily recognized by a practised 

 listener. 



