76 Account of the Drone Bee. 
There is one thing, however, that feems to 
favour the former gentleman’s conjecture; viz. 
that fome hives, which had not a fingle drone 
in them, have been known to breed well for 
one fummer, pretty well the next, and even 
tolerably the third; but at laft, have breed 
drones, and thereby turned out much more pro- 
lific thereafter : although it muft beowned, that 
fuch hivesgenerally failat laft. Seeing the drones 
are great confumers of honey, though they do 
nothing to provide any, fhould the above 
conjecture, therefore, turn out to be true, a 
practical inference may naturally be drawn, 
that a hive may thrive fully as well, or rather 
better, for 3 or 4 years, without drones than 
with them; after which period, they might 
again be introduced into the hive, for the 
purpofe of renewing the prolific powers of the 
Queen, and prevent the royal race from be- 
coming barren or extinct. It may be farther 
obferved, as an additional argument in favour — 
of the above conjecture, that although the 
Queen and her daughter, none of whom ever 
faw a drone, might lay abundance of ees, 
which would all produce bees ; yet they might 
probably have laid a great many more, had 
the drones been in the hive with them. 
