26 
As soon as the cell is sealed over, the worm or larva 
begins to spin around itself a white, silky film called 
cocoon, by which it is incased, and after undergoing 
its change it is called nymph. In twenty-one days 
from the time the egg was layed it comes forth a per- 
fect worker. 
THE DRONES. 
The drones make their appearance a short time before 
the swarming season commences, usually about the end 
of April. They are of a clumsy and bulky structure, 
with wings large enough to cover the entire abdomen, 
and when flying are easily recognized by their loud 
hum. 1 hey do not labor — never gather honey from 
the flowers, nor carry bee-bread to the hive, being 
physically disqualified to perform any of these labors, 
their proboscis being too short for extracting the honey 
from the flowers ; being also without a honey sac for 
carrying honey, and without baskets or grooves for car- 
rying bee-bread or bee-glue like the workers, their sole 
purpose of existence is to impregnate the young queens. 
Without drones the young queens would remain barren, 
and the entire race of the honey-bee would become ex- 
tinct. As the impregnation is naturally effected on the 
wing in the open air, the drones leave the hive about 
noon on pleasant days, and as soon as the service of 
impregnation is supposed to be accomplished for the 
