THE DRONE. 83 



ber usually found in one, would sufBoe. Under such cir- 

 cumstances bees are not in a state of nature, lilse a colony 

 living in a forest, which often has no neighbors for miles. 

 A good stock, even in our climate, sometimes sends out 

 three or more swarms, and in the tropical climates, of 

 which the bee is probably a native, they increase with aston- 

 ishing rapidity.* Every new swarm, except the first, is led 

 off by a young queen ; and as she is never impregnated 

 until she has been established as the head of a separate fam- 

 ily, it is important that each should be accompanied by a 

 goodly number of drones : this requires the production of a 

 large number in the parent-hive. 



190. This necessity no longer exists when the bee is do- 

 mesticated, since several colonies are kept in the same 

 place, and the breeding of so many drones should be dis- 

 couraged. Their brood takes useful space that might as 

 well be occupied with worker-brood. One thousand good- 

 for-nothing drones take up as much breeding-space as fif- 

 teen hundred workers (224), and require as much food, 

 with negative results. Some hives, in a state of nature, 

 produce so many *drones that a great part of the surplus 

 crop is disposed of by these voracious loafers. Besides, the 

 comparatively large volume of the male organs, in connec- 

 tion with the gluttony of the drones, explains why they void 

 their dejections in the hive, while workers retain them till 

 they are on the wing (73), and why the cells of the combs 

 of hives which have a large quantity of these gormands, 

 become dark and thick sooner than the others. 



The importance of preventing the over-production of 

 drones has been corroborated by the discovery of Mr. P. J. 

 Mahan, that those leaving the hive have quite a large drop 

 of honey in their stomachs — while those returning from 



• At Sydney, In Anstralia, a single colony is stated to have multiplied to 300, 

 In three yeais. 



