DRONE ORGANS. 
133 
was good for the queens that it should take place there, 
because when the young queen flew out for fertilisation, 
after taking observations of the surrounding neighbour- 
hood, she flew away at an enormous speed, and therefore 
the strongest and swiftest drone had the queen for a mate. 
In this way they had again the selection of the fittest. 
Were fertilisation to take place only in the hive, instead 
of the breed improving, it would be deteriorated.’ 
Besides this, we have seen that to expel the sper- 
matophore to fecundate the queen requires great force ; 
it is therefore evident that only the strongest drones 
are capable of doing this. Weak drones, whether 
their weakness is caused by improper or insufficient 
nourishment in their larval state, have not their organs 
properly developed, consequently the spermatophore 
may not be a compact mass of spermatozoa, as it 
should be. The strongest drones are the swiftest, and 
the best for the purpose they are intended for. This, 
we think, explains the reason why these apparently 
useless creatures are tolerated, and are only expelled 
when their services are no longer needed. 
