GENERAL HINTS II 
have their feelings of friendship and dislike 
almost human in their intensity; their expres- 
sions of sorrow on the loss of their queen or 
when their stores are failing are as unmistakable 
as their hum of contentment when the hive is 
thriving, or the buzz of anger when rudely 
disturbed. 
The Drone.—The drone is the male bee. 
He is the progeny of an unfertilised egg laid 
by the queen, or bya fertile worker. His life 
is usually a short and merry one. He lives 
entirely on the labour of others, and, unless 
there is something radically wrong with the 
hive, he is seen only during the spring and 
summer months, when his services are in 
requisition. When on the wing the drone is 
by far the noisiest of bees, although the sound 
he makes is somewhat similar to that made by 
the worker when on the warpath, the note of 
warning to the disturbing human, and the 
trumpet call to her fellow-workers. 
Owing to the peculiar structure of the drone, 
mating can only take place in the air, and when 
it has been accomplished the drone returns to 
the hive but to die. When the honey-flow 
fails the death warrant of the drones still in the 
hive is issued. They are seized by the workers 
and killed or ejected from the hive. To the 
