We have no doubt at all that both kinds are 
laid by one queen on the same day. Drones 
are twenty-four days in their cells, and 
workers twenty-one days. If a strong hive 
be bereft of its queen the workers are being 
hatched and born every day for three weeks, 
and all the drones are not hatched till the 
twenty-fourth day. 
The function of drones is to pair with 
RURAL CONVERSAZIONE 
j in the hat. For women who are neither 
I blond nor brunette, rich, deep brown, or 
plum color are often much more becoming 
| than black. 
For the Spring months woollen goods, 
called Summer Camels’ Hair, is made up into 
polonaises, or tunics and basques, to bo worn 
over petticoats of almost any color. It costs 
from 65 cents upwards, of single width, and 
is commonly in gray hues, woveu in largo 
broken plaids and in stripes. If worn with a 
black petticoat, gloves of black may be 
worn, with cuffs of the gray material. The 
bottom of tuuic or polonaise is finished in 
the best style, with a hem with two or three 
rows of machine stitching; fringe is also 
used. Nearly all costumes are of two shades, 
or colors — sleeves and petticoat of one and 
corsage and tunic of the other. But except 
in the matter of makiug over old dresses, or 
indeed for a costume intended for constant 
wear, to last one season, it (3 hardly ad¬ 
visable to buy uew material of two shades. 
Very little change in stylo of making is yet 
apparent. Sleeves are close-fitting, and as 
the arm holes are high upon the shoulder, 
the top of the sleeves must be well rouuded 
anti sewed in with care. Corsages are loug- 
waisted ; basques are cut deep in front and 
back, with less depth over the hips. The 
polonaise, thank Heaven, is not dethroned. 
If there is one garment for which a woman 
has reason to be thankful, it is that. May it 
reign forever ! 
Of trimming there is no end, and of inge¬ 
nuity in their form and adaptation uo end- 
embroidery. knife-plaited frills, bias ruffles, 
puffs aud shirs, each and all being popular 
as ever. Skirts with tunics or without, are 
matters of taste. For front aud sides only 
sufficient fullness in skirt, tunic or basque to 
cover the form is allowed, all else being 
drawn to the buck. To cover but not. to 
DRONES, 
SPRING FASHIONS. 
I have just returned from a half-dozen 
“ Spring Openings,” and shall endeavor to 
sift out of the maze of fashion and folly 
Drowe bees do seem very worthless, stupid 
creatures, and uever get a good Dame from 
anybody. They are graceless, mannerless, 
and shiftless. Drones of all kinds bear 
characters which are not inviting and 
attractive. Drone bees are lazy, idle 
creatures beyond compare. Though they 
are stronger in build and body than either 
queens or working bees, they will die of 
want rather than work, 
Born in scenes of 
great activity and industry, and amongst 
communities of self-sacrificing workers, 
drones seem quite unaffected and uninflu¬ 
enced by example and remain apathetic and 
insensible to all around them but food and 
sunshine. They do seem to enjoy a warm 
noon-day excursion. Indolence is the great 
characteristic of drone bees. Having no 
weapons of defense they are naturally 
cowardly and helpless. They are very un¬ 
fortunate creatures, and no right-minded 
person can study their history without feel¬ 
ing a touch of commiseration for them. To 
the naturalist the history of drones is most 
interesting. The immediate cause of their 
sex is shrouded in mystery, and their eud is 
tragical to a degree. The queen lays both 
male and female eggs. The male eggs hatch 
into drones only, whether set in drone or 
worker cells, and female eggs hatch into 
workers, but can be converted into queens 
»n royal cells. Many writers tell U 3 that the 
eggs laid by a queen are differently treated 
In passing through the oviduct, that all eggs 
touched by t he contents of the spermatheca 
become female, and those which pass un¬ 
touched are male—in a word, that all are 
male till some become femalised in passing 
something that may be of service to the 
Rurat, dames who begin to discuss the im¬ 
portant topic of what they shall wear. 
Bonnets and hats—just what, the difference 
may be la difficult to define—are larger than 
those of last year. The crowns are low, high, 
round, flat, square or sugar-loaf, while the 
broad brims are turned up, or down, both in 
front and back, at one side or both, or not at 
all. The material is mostly Italian or French 
chip or English straw. Prices range from 83 
to $6. Colors—brown, gray, white and black, 
Flowers and soft, silk scarfs constitute the 
Flowers are used in the 
To cover but not to 
conceal the out¬ 
line of the form is 
the present aim of 
k fashion. For tall, 
II slender, symmet- 
I I rical ly -forme d 
II women this fash- 
II ion is particularly 
N becoming. There 
9 is a charming dig- 
nity in the free, 
4 naturally - devel- 
(1 oped human form 
|| — and it seems a 
U foolish and un¬ 
kind thing to 
clothe it in a fash¬ 
ion that conceals all its symmetry and grace. 
Those who may bo contemplating the 
purchase of silk may be assured that 
for durability no silks equal those of 
tion is perhaps a wise provision in an un 
certain climate. If the weather bo unfavor¬ 
able during the early days of queens, many 
of them fail to bo mated by drones and are 
worthless. But queens timely fertilized 
commence to lay in a few days afterwards, 
and in about ten days after egg-laying has 
begun by fertile young queens the bees com 
raence to worry and kill the drones. The 
poor unfortunate creatures are driven from 
the provision cells by their merciless 
masters, whose deadly intentions becomo 
more manifest every day, till a scene of 
carnage takes place too painful to witness. 
Recently drone traps have been Introduced 
to assist the bees in ridding hives of their 
condemned drones. We have one which 
does the work of trapping very well, but we 
seldom use it, for it hinders and confuses 
the bees at, work during the best part of the 
day for honey-gathering ; and then there 
follows the trouble of killing the drones that 
have been trapped, We try to select stocks 
in autumn that have but little drone comb 
in them, and when any that are selected 
trimmiug, mostly, 
greatest profusion ; garlands entirely encirc¬ 
ling the hat, cost front *5 upwards. Very 
few hats or bounets entirely of black are to 
be seen among the new importations. The 
hats with broad brims that one would natur¬ 
ally suppose should be worn so as to protect 
the eyes, are perched on the back of the 
head, the sides bent towards the ears, while 
the space between th3 top of the head and 
the brim of the hat is filled in with flowers— 
a quaint,, old-fashioned, gipsy affair. But, 
there arc English walking hats that shade the 
eyes and are very pretty too. The English 
are never so artistic as the French, but they 
manifest a deal of good sense and sensible 
comfort in many ways, and I have yet to see 
either the use or beauty in a hat that, does 
not shade the forehead and eyes. 
The reign of black in dress is practically 
over. It is ten years since the war ended, 
and it is quite time that we lay aside our 
garments of gloom and clothe ourselves in 
and the improvement made in their appear 
anco since they were first put upon the 
market has been so great that now, even 
for beauty, no one can wish for anything 
more elegant for church, visiting, house and 
street wear. The brands in black formerly 
sold for $3 now sell for 81.75. There is a 
great variety iu Spring colors—all the new 
and exquisite shades ; these sell for 82, and 
are guaranteed to wear equally as well as 
the blacks. These silks require but little 
trimming, while the firm texture of the fab¬ 
ric makes them especially suitable to the 
classic fashion of close-fitting costume now 
in vogue. The advertisement in another 
column may furnish additional information 
in regard to tills admirable article of home 
manufacture. French silks in checks cost 
81.2.) ; in stripes, from 75 cents, narx'ow 
body of the queen. Droues, then, are drones 
I from deprivation before the eggs are Laid. 
Male eggs are generally deposited in drone 
cells, Is it not wonderful how queen bees 
know when they are going to deposit male 
and female eggs ? And if they do know this, 
is it not equally wonderful that the working 
bees know how to distinguish the male from 
the female eggs after they are laid ? 
In tr ying to fathom this great mystery a 
writer on the subject suggests the possibility 
of the narrow cells of worker-comb being the 
caus:> of difference of sex ; that those narrow 
cells compress the abdomens of queens in 
the act of laying, and thus press the contents 
of the spermatheca against the eggs; 
whereas the drone cells, being large, produce 
no pressure. The writer in question does not 
know that many eggs female in character 
are laid in almost all hives containing 
swarms on the foundations of cells before 
their sides are erected at all. Ln such cases ' 
there can be no pressure whatever on the 
abdomens of queens in laying eggs, and yet 
the eggs laid on these foundations hatch into 
workers. 
Much has beeu written about queens lay¬ 
ing female eggs for months, and then com¬ 
mencing to lay nothing but male eggs, [f 
the writers had possessed accurate knowl¬ 
edge of the producing cause of the difference 
of male and female eggs they would not 
have written as they have done. We have 
never in our experience found a queen 
suspend the laying of eggs in worker cells 
for days in order to lay eggs in drone cells. 
colors as do the flowers. Black has been 
worn largely because of its economy, aud 
chosen, too, by women who question their 
ability to dress tastefully in colors. It is a 
common remark that ‘’everybody looks 
