54 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEY BEE. 



Queen bee, I shall describe more particularly, the other in- 

 mates of the hive. 



The Dkones ok Male Bees. 



The drones are, unquestionably, the 

 male bees; dissection proving that they 

 have the appropriate organs of generation. 

 They are much larger and stouter than 

 either the Queen or workers; although 

 their bodies are not quite so long as that 

 of the Queen. They have no sting with which to defend 

 themselves ; no proboscis suitable for gathering honey from 

 the flowers, no baskets on their thighs for holding bee-bread, 

 and no pouqhes on their abdomens for secreting wax. They 

 are therefore, physically disqualified for work, even if they 

 were ever so well disposed to it. Their proper office is to 

 impregnate the young Queens, and they are usually de- 

 stroyed by the bees, soon after this is completed. 



Dr. Evans, the author of a beautiful poem on bees, thus 

 appropriately describes them : — 



" Their short proboscis sips 

 No luscious nectar from the wild thyme's lips, 

 From the lime's leaf no amber drops they steal, 

 Nor bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal : 

 On other's toils in pamper'd leisure thrive 

 The lazy fathers of the industrious hive." 



The drones begin to make their appearance in April or 

 May ; earlier or later, according to climate and the forward- 

 ness of the season, and strength of the stock. In colonies- 

 which are too weak to swarm, none, as a general rule, are 

 reared, for in such hives, as no young Queens are raised, 

 they would be only useless consumers. 



The number of drones in a hive is often very great, 

 amounting, not merely to hundreds, but sometimes to thou- 



