What shall we say of the drone, whose very name has long been a synonym for idleness and sloth? The popular song, "Everybody works but Father, " may well apply to him. Just why nature should decree that his industrious sisters should work so feverishly and with such constant purpose, while he never works at all, is hard to understand. It would seem that some of the productive work of the community might have been assigned to him, but not so. He does not even go to the field to gather his own food but lives heartily on the abundant supply brought in by the busy workers.

As far as can be seen the sole purpose of the drone is that of a male parent, but even here he takes no part in the rearing of his offspring, for he dies on his wedding day and never lives to see his numerous progeny.

Nowhere in nature do we find such an amazing community as in the beehive. The queen-the one perfect female-spends her life in reproduction, the number of her offspring during the period of her life being variously estimated from a half million to more than a million individuals. Such a prolific mother would soon fill the world were it not for the fact that so few of them are queens who will also reproduce their kind. The thousands of worker bees constantly emerging from the cells in which they spend their infancy spend their lives in adding to the wealth of the community, in caring for the growing family and in such household duties as are necessary for the comfort and prosperity of the inmates. The drones add nothing to the wealth of the hive, perform none of the labor, nor do they assist in defending the store against the attacks of those who plunder the bees. Some beekeepers contend that the heat of their bodies as they cluster on the combs in chilly weather helps to warm the brood and to heat the hive. Even so it is an entirely involuntary contribution and one that would as well be made by a similar number of females who labor for the good of all.

The Drone.

The cells in which drones are reared are larger than the cells serving as cradles for young worker bees. Twenty-five days are required for the development of the drone from the time the egg is laid, whereas it takes twenty-one for a worker bee, and only sixteen for a queen.

In a state of nature, a colony of bees will make a large part of their comb of the size used for rearing drones. These larger cells serve as well for the storage of honey and apparently it is easier for the bees to build them. A new swarm with a prolific queen will build combs of worker cells as long as the queen fills them with eggs as fast as built. As soon as they expand beyond her immediate needs, they are likely to begin building drone comb. It thus happens that in early summer when the brood nest is expanded as far as the capacity of the queen to lay, and the bees to warm the brood, will permit, large numbers of drones will be reared for a short period. Nature is very prolific and takes no chances. Millions of pollen grains are scattered over the landscape to insure the pollination of a single flower and likewise hundreds of drones may be reared to insure the mating of a single young queen.

In the warm summer days when the honey is coming to the hive and young bees are hatching in large numbers the drones are tolerated by their sisters, and perhaps even cultivated for the pleasure of their company, but alas for the poor drone when winter approaches. His presence is then no longer welcome.

When a young queen goes forth on her mating flight she is pursued by a number of drones. Here again nature favors the survival of the fittest, for it is the strongest and fastest individual among them that is likely to overtake the virgin. The mating takes place high in the air and the male dies immediately after. The young queen returns to the hive and is not likely to go out again except in company with a swarm to found a new community. Following a successful mating she will be impregnated for life. Once this is accomplished, there is no further need of the army of drones which are loafing about the hive. They are not disturbed, however, as long as the weather remains warm and honey is plentiful in the field.

It is interesting to note that while the worker bees remain constant to their natural home, drones seem to drift about from hive to hive with no particular preference for any special one. If a worker bee attempts to enter a strange hive, she is likely to be seized by the guards and dragged out after rough treatment. The drones are permitted to enter or leave at will and their needs are met from the store of any hive in which they happen to alight. Since they neither bring anything in nor carry anything out their presence occasions no anxiety on the part of the guards at the entrance of the hive.

When the first hard frost cuts down the honey yielding flowers in autumn, the drones are likely to receive different treatment from their hitheto indulgent sisters. When no new stores are coming in and the community is reduced to the necessity of living on the savings of the past, no matter how large the reserve, none is wasted on indigent males. Unless perchance the queen is old and failing and is likely to soon be replaced, the drones are driven out.

Two or three workers will seize a drone by the legs and drag him unceremoniously from the hive or perhaps he will be worried and pestered until he moves cut of his own accord. The disconsolate drones that gather in little groups outside the hive in a vain attempt to get some comfort from each other's presence, offer a sorry sight. During the warm and prosperous days of summer they have been the petted and pampered members of the community. Now when the days are chill and the warmth of the hive is so inviting, they are compelled to shift for themselves. Never having learned how to find food or to provide for any of their own needs, they survive but a short time.

Every action of the bee community thus looks toward the single purpose of the storing of honey. None of the saving, no matter how prosperous the season, is wasted in caring for individuals which will contribute nothing toward its further prosperity.

With the expulsion of the drones, the queen will cease her activity, brood-rearing will soon cease, and the bees will live quietly awaiting the coming of another season.