THE DRONE. 91 



hands, than to be starved or butchered by the unfeeling- work- 

 ers. Towai'ds dark, or early in the morning — when clustered, 

 for warmth, in the portico — they may be brushed into a vessel 

 of water, and given to chickens, which will soon learn to de- 

 vour them. 



194. Drones are sometimes raised in worker-cells (150). 

 They are smaller in size, but apparently as perfect as the 

 full-size drones, all their organs being well developed. 



For the stages of development of drones, see the compara- 

 tive table at the end of this chapter (19'}'). 



195. We have repeatedly queried, why impregnation 

 might not have taken place in the hive, instead of in the 

 open air. A few dozen drones would then have sufficed for 

 the wants of any colony, even if it swarmed, as in warm 

 climates, half a dozen times, or oftener, in the same season ; 

 and the young queens would have incurred no risks by leav- 

 ing the hive for fecundation. 



196. If a farmer persists in what is called "breeding in 

 and in," that is, without changing the blood, the ultimate 

 degeneracy of his stock is the consequence.* This law extends, 

 as far as we know, to all animal life, man himself not being 

 exempt from its influence. Have we any reason to suppose 

 that the bee is an exception? or that degeneracy would not 

 ensue, unless some provision were made to counteract the ten- 

 dency to "in-and-in breeding?" If fecundation had taken 

 place in the hive, the queen would have been impregnated by 

 drones from a common parent; and the same result must 

 have taken place in each successive generation, until the whole 

 species would eventually have "run out." By the present 

 arrangement, the young queens, when they leave the hive, 

 often find the air swarming with drones, many of which be- 

 long to other colonies, and thus, by crossing the breed, pro- 

 vision is constantly made to prevent deterioration. 



• In the above, Mr. Lar.gstroth refers to indiscriminate breeding. 

 In-and-in breeding, by selection, intensifies certain qualities, such as 

 the development o£ fat, or of muscle, but it also intensifies the de- 

 fects, generally causing a decrease of vitality or of health in the race. 



