LOSS OF QUEENS. 
241 
thousands cannot be the only one capable of repro- 
duction or depositing eggs. Why, the idea is prepos- 
terous! And yet only a little observation will upset 
thip very consistent and analogous reasoning. So it 
appears to be with the excursions of the young 
queens. I was compelled, though reluctantly, to 
admit that they leave the hive. That their purpose 
is to meet the drones, I cannot at present contradict. 
Also, that, when the queen is once impregnated, it is 
operative for life, (yet it is another anomaly), as I 
never detected her coming out again for that purpose. 
What then is the use of the ten thousand drones that 
never fulfil this important duty ? It seems, indeed, 
like a useless waste of labor and honey, for each stock 
to rear some twelve or fifteen hundred, when perhaps 
but one, sometimes not an} r of the whole number is 
of any use. If the risk is great in the queen’s leaving, 
we find it arranged admirably in its not being too fre- 
quent. 
A MULTITUDE OF DRONES NEEDED. 
Instinct teaches the bee to make the matters left to 
them as nearly sure as possible. When they want 
one queen, they raise half a dozen. If one drone or 
only half a dozen were reared, the chances of the queen 
meeting one in the air would be very much reduced. 
But when a thousand are in the air instead of one, 
the chances are a thousand times multiplied. If a 
stock casts a swarm, there is a young queen to be im- 
pregnated, and be got safely back, or the stock is lost. 
Every time she leaves, there is a chance of her being 
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