8 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
lay down their life in its defence, their only 
but dangerous weapon being their poisoned 
sting, which they fearlessly use when required, 
although its loss is almost invariably the 
consequence, as it is barbed, and can seldom 
be withdrawn by them, and when they return 
home without it their life is the forfeit. 
A good healthy colony in the summer 
season should contain from 30,000 to 40,000 
workers, and the stronger the hive is in this 
respect the better and more profitable, as 
instead of the greater numbers inducing lazi- 
ness or rest, it seems to stimulate their 
energies, and thus produces a larger yield to 
the Beemaster. 
DRONES, 
The Drone, or Male, differs greatly from both 
the Queen and the Working Bee. They are 
larger, the body is rounder, and the abdomen 
not so pointed as that of the Queens or 
Workers, and they have a loud hum when 
flying. They are reared in the larger or 
Drone cells in the manner already mentioned 
in my description of the Queen, and require 
23 or 24 days for hatching. The caps of the 
brood cells are high and convex, and they are 
sometimes termed humped or hump back 
brood when laid in worker cells by an unfer- 
tilised Queen. The sole purpose of their 
existence is for the impregnat ion of the Queen, 
and they take no part in the labours of the 
community, consequently they have received 
the appellation of Lazy Drones. Unlike the 
male of most creatures they are the weakest 
and most helpless, as they have no sting to 
defend themselves, and no natural appliances 
for procuring their own subsistence. They are 
only produced during the summer months in 
anticipation of swarms for the impregnation of 
the Virgin Queens, and when the swarming 
period is past, as they are no longer required, 
they are destroyed by the other bees, in order 
that they may not consume the stores of 
the hive during the winter. However, 
when a hive is Queenless, they are generally 
kept for some time longer if the bees are try- 
ing to raise a new Queen. In a large hive 
there may be one or two thousand Drones, 
which may appear far too great a number of 
these comparatively useless idlers, but this is 
a wise provision of nature as it is a matter of 
great importance that the Queen should be 
certain of meeting soon with a mate when 
taking her flight. She is not so active as the 
others, and her absence from the hive should 
be as short as possible as she runs the risk of 
accidents from birds or other causes. 
The Drone who chances to meet with the 
Queen is an unlucky bridegroom, as his 
marriage-day is also that of his death, while 
his widow returns and commences her 
maternal duties apparently unconcerned for 
the loss of her royal consort, but unlike many 
widows she remains faithful to his memory to 
the end of her days. I should here call 
attention to the fact that sometimes if bees are 
allowed to breed as many drones as they like, 
they do so in great numbers, which of 
necessity causes a great and useless waste 
of the honey stores ; and this requires 
the attention of the watchful Beemaster, 
who should remove from the hive a por- 
tion of the Drone combs to put a 
stop to their excessive production. The 
Italian Bees, however, breed less these idlers. 
THE FOOD OF THE BEES. 
Honey, pollen, and water form the principal 
nutriment on which the Bees subsist. Pollen, 
according to more recent analyses, consists of 
starch with fatty and other very nitro- 
genous constituents, and honey, though 
not yet accurately analysed, appears 
to contain sugar, mucilage, and acid. The 
matters are necessary for the formation 
and nourishment of the Bee. The honey is 
carried home in the honey-sac, with which 
all Working Bees are provided by Nature, 
and from that transferred to the cells ; when 
they take it from the honey-bag into the 
stomach they use it mixed with pollen for 
their own food or for feeding the young brood; 
when they wish to build combs they take 
more honey into their stomach and there 
digest it for about forty-eight hours, after 
which it exudes and forms small leaves of wax 
on their abdomenal rings, and then it is ready 
for use. Honey alone is required for this for- 
mation of wax and it takes lOlbs. of honey 
to produce lib. of the wax from which the 
combs are constructed, but to make pure, 
clean wax 201bs. of honey are requisite. 
The pollen is carried by the Bees in the 
baskets or grooves on their hind legs which 
Nature has provided for the purpose, and 
when they wish to lay by a store of it 
they pack it tightly in the cells, sometimes 
filling up w'ith honey and then closing up the 
cell Pollen is only used mixed with honey and 
water for food, and has no part in the com- 
position of wax as many persons erroneously 
believe. 
(To be continued.) 
How I Caught and Robbed my 
First Hive. 
By a Notice. 
One fine Sunday morning I was starting out 
from my residence in the suburbs to dine 
with a lricnd in town, when I was apprized of 
the fact that there was a very peculiar cluster 
of flies hanging on a rosebush in the garden. 
Having inspected the cluster, I came to the 
