58 miner's AMERICAN 



istence in January, and if I had driven out the bees, I 

 should have seen them, of course. 



The reason why drones are sometimes left is, that the 

 family is without a queen, or that- the condition of the 

 family is such, as to possibly require them to impregnate 

 a new sovereign. If the queen is not in a healthy and 

 sound condition, the drones, or a few of them, are al- 

 ways allowed to exist. This is right — who could order 

 better ? 



In case of the death of the queen, how important are 

 these drones ! In case of the absence of a queen at the 

 time of the general massacre, and no larvae are left to 

 replace her, the drones are reserved as being needful, in 

 case of the bees being put in possession of a new queen, 

 on which they can make no calculation by any natural 

 means ; yet instinct teaches them to preserve the drones, 

 and trust in Providence for a queen. 



It may be set down as a fact, that when drones are 

 found long after the general extermination, something 

 is wrong, and needs 'the attention of the apiarian; but' 

 in some cases, it defies the knowledge of man, to con- 

 ceive why they are left. In the case in which I saw 

 the four drones, mentioned above, the family was in the 

 most perfect prosperity. The queen was very fertile, 

 and I cannot say why the drones were permitted to 

 winter over, unless something was amiss with the queen 

 in the fall, of which she recovered before spring. 



For the purpose of impregnating a new queen, a few 

 drones would render the act somewhat precarious, but 

 I presume that instinct teaches them in every emergen- 



