Account of the Drone Bee. 79 
room in my houfe, that not a fingle bee might 
efcape me; but, after repeating the former ex- 
periment of immerfing them in water, recover- 
ing, and prefling them one by one, I found that 
every one of them had a fting. 
I think thefe experiments may fatisfy any 
unprejudiced perfon, that there is no fuch crea- 
ture in exiftence asa {mall drone bee; unlefs 
it be in Mr DeBRAWw’s brain. But, if Mr 
Debraw, who fays he can find fifty-feven in a 
{mall {warm of bees, will fend me the odd 
feven, I will give him one of my beft hives for 
them, and I think he will not fay that they 
are ill fold. 
I have often had good hives, with few or no 
drones in them, during the whole year. Mr 
Keys is wrong, when he fays, a top {warm 
will not thrive without drones, for I am cer- 
tain of the contrary. In fummer 1785, I took 
off four {warms of my own in one day, with- 
out a fingle drone in one of them; yet they all 
throve well, and the bees bred drones in them 
about four weeks thereafter. 
Although I cannot determine of what ufe 
the drones are to a hive, unlefs it be to help to 
confume the honey, which they are very well 
qualified to do, yet it is obfervable that the 
K beit 
