50 
THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 
usually destroyed by the bees soon after this is accom¬ 
plished. 
Dr. Evans, an English physician and the author of a 
beautiful poem on bees, thus ajipropriately describes 
them: 
“ Their short proboscis sips 
No luscious nectar from the wild thyme’s lips, 
Fi om the lime’s leaf no amber drops they steal, 
Nor bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal: 
On other’s toils iu pamper’d leisure thrive 
The lazy fathers of the industrious hive.” 
Tlie drones begin to make their appearance in April or 
May ; earlier or later, according to the fonvardness of the 
season, and the strength of the stock. In colonies too 
tveak to swarm, none as a general rule arc reared ; for in 
such hives, as no young queens are raised, drones would 
be only useless consumers. 
The number of drones in a hive is often very great, 
amounting not merely to hundreds, but sometimes to thou¬ 
sands. As a single one will impregnate a queen for liie, 
it wotdd seem that only a few should be reared. ]>»t 
as sexii.al intercourse always takes place high up in the 
air, the young queens must neces-sarily leave the hive; 
and it is very im])ortant to their safety that they should 
be sure to find a drone without being compelled to make 
frequent excursions; for being larger than workers, and 
less active on the wing, queens are more exposed to bo 
caught by birds, or destroyed by sudden gusts of wind. 
In a large A]iiary, a few drones in each hive, or the 
number usually found in one, wonhl suffice. Hut under 
such circumstances bees are not in a state of n.aturc, like 
a colony living in a forest, which often has no neighbors 
for miles. A good stock, even in onr climate, sometimes 
sends out three or more swarms, and in the tropical 
