THE DKONE. 85 



better to save the bees the labor and expense of rear- 

 ing such a host of useless consumers. This can readily 

 be done, when we have the control of tlie combs ; for, 

 by removing the drone-comb, and supplying its place with 

 worker-cells, the over-production of drones may be easily 

 prevented. Those who object to this, as interfering with 

 nature, should remember that the bee is not in a state 

 of nature ; and that the same objection might, with equal 

 force, be urged against killing off the supernumerary males 

 of our domestic animals. 



192. Soon .after the harvest is over, or if there is a lull 

 in the yield of honey, the drones are expelled from the hive. 

 The worker-bees sting them, or gnaw the roots of their 

 wings, so that when driven from the hive, they cannot re- 

 turn. If not ejected in either of these summary ways, thej' 

 are so persecuted and starved, that they soon perish. At 

 such times they often retreat from the comb, and keep by 

 themselves upon the sides or bottom-board of the hive. 

 The hatred of the bees extends even to the unhatched 

 young, which are mercilessly pulled from the cells and de- 

 stroyed with the rest. 



Healthy colonies almost ' always destroy the drones, as soon 

 as forage becomes scarce. In the vicinity of Philadelphia, 

 there were only a few days in June, 1858, when it did not 

 rain, and in that month the drones were destroyed in most 

 of the hives. When the weather became more propitious, 

 others were bred to take their place. In seasons when the 

 honey-harvest has been abundant and long protracted, we 

 have known the drones to be retained, in Northern Massa- 

 chusetts, until the 1st of November. If bees could gather 

 honey and could swarm the whole year, the drones would 

 probably die a natural death. 



How wonderful that instinct which, when there is no longer 

 any occasion for their services, impels the bees to destroy 

 those members of the colony reared with such devoted 

 attention ! 



