THE DRONE. -1 



queen's ovary, it is brought m contact with the drone sperm to 

 produce workers, or is allowed to pass without such contact to 

 produce drones, the same as eggs laid before her impregnation. 

 Some have supposed this contact to be produced by compression 

 of the queen's abdomen, caused by the size of the cells in which 

 workers are reared, they being much smaller than drone cells. 

 This theory is disproved by the fact that a stock deprived of its 

 drone-comb, will sometimes rear drones in worker cells ; besides, 

 in comb-building, the queen will frequently deposit eggs in the 

 eeli3 while their walls are scarcely an eighth of an inch long and 

 ccuid cause no pressure. 



THE DRONE. 



" The drones are the males, and do not work for the support oj 

 the hive, hut lead an idle life, feeding upon the produce of others' 

 labor." — R icn ardson. 



The drones are more bulky, though somewhat shorter, than 

 the queen, and, unlike her, their wings are long enough to cover 

 tne entire abdomen. They are much larger than the workers, 

 and have a clumsy, uncouth appearance. When flying, their 

 loud, boisterous hum is easily recognized. Being without a sac 

 for carrying honey or grooves on their thighs for pollen, they are 

 physically disqualified for performing any labors of the hive. 

 Their proboscis is too short for extracting the nectar from flow- 

 ers, and being destitute of a sting, they cannot assist in protect- 

 ing the stores from robbery. They are called into existence at 

 the approach of the swarming season to fertilize the young 

 queens. As impregnation is effected while on the wing, the 



