62 
FOLLOWING THE BEE LINE 
stinctively reach for his smoker, knowing that for 
his own comfort the bees “need a little smoke” . . . 
the high joyful note of welcome to a queen, if they 
have long been queenless ... the loud busy 
song when there is a great press of work and a 
corresponding increase of happiness. 
Their activities are all directed, as were those of 
the ancient Romans, for the good of the community, 
not the individual. Therefore, in the autumn the 
workers of the colony refuse to allow the drones to 
live through the winter on the bounty of the hive. 
Through the summer they have done little but take 
an occasional flight to get up an appetite. . . . 
Death would claim them before spring anyway, and 
a new drone supply will then have to be reared for 
mating-time. So why should these big lazy fellows 
continue to sip on sweets they did not help to gather? 
To conserve their stores, the greatly preponderat¬ 
ing number of workers push the weaponless drones 
out of the hives, threatening them with their stings— 
threats which are only a bluff, however, and a bluff 
which is not “called.” Outside, in the cold fall 
nights, the sensitively organized drones perish. If 
they try to return, two or three bees will jump on 
them and pull off a wing or leg. Not pleasant to 
watch. But is there not some form of cruelty in 
