The Drones Or Male Bees
The drones are, unquestionably, the male bees. Dissection proves that
they have the appropriate organs of generation. They are much larger and
stouter than either the queen or workers; although their bodies are not
quite so long as that of the queen. They have no sting with which to
defend themselves; no proboscis which is suitable for gathering honey
from the flowers, and no baskets on their thighs for holding the
bee
bread. They are thus physically disqualified for work, even if they
were ever so well disposed to it. Their proper office is to impregnate
the young queens, and they are usually destroyed by the bees, soon after
this is completed.
Dr. Evans the author of a beautiful poem on bees thus appropriately
describes them:--
"Their short proboscis sips
No luscious nectar from the wild thyme's lips,
From the lime's leaf no amber drops they steal,
Nor bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal:
On other's toils in pamper'd leisure thrive
The lazy fathers of the industrious hive."
The drones begin to make their appearance in April or May; earlier or
later, according to climate and the forwardness of the season, and
strength of the stock. They require about twenty-four days for their
full development from the egg. In colonies which are too weak to swarm,
none, as a general rule, are reared: they are not needed, for in such
hives, as no young queens are raised, they would be only useless
consumers.
The number of drones in a hive is often very great, amounting, not
merely to hundreds, but sometimes to thousands. It seems, at first, very
difficult to understand why there should be so many, especially since it
has been ascertained that a single one will impregnate a queen for life.
But as intercourse always takes place high in the air, the young queens
are obliged to leave the hive for this purpose; and it is exceedingly
important to their safety, that they should be sure of finding one,
without being compelled to make frequent excursions. Being larger than a
worker, and less quick on the wing, they are more exposed to be caught
by birds, or blown down and destroyed by sudden gusts of wind.
In a large Apiary, a few drones in each hive, or the number usually
found in one, might be amply sufficient. But it must be borne in mind,
that under these circumstances, bees are not in a state of nature.
Before they were domesticated, a colony living in a forest, often had no
neighbors for miles. Now a good stock in our climate, sometimes sends
out three or more swarms, and in the tropical climates, of which the bee
is a native, they increase with astonishing rapidity. At Sydney, in
Australia, a single colony is stated to have multiplied to 300 in three
years. All the new swarms except the first, are led off by a young
queen, and as she is never impregnated until after she has been
established as the head of a separate family, it is important that they
should all be accompanied by a goodly number of drones; and this
renders it necessary that a large number should be produced in the
parent hive.
As this necessity no longer exists, when the bee is domesticated, the
production of so many drones should be discouraged. Traps have been
invented to destroy them, but it is much better to save the bees the
labor and expense of rearing such a host of useless consumers. This can
readily be done by the use of my hives. The cells in which the drones
are reared, are much larger than those appropriated to the raising of
workers. The combs containing them may be taken out, to have their
places supplied with worker's cells, and thus the over production of
drones may easily be prevented. Some colonies contain so much drone comb
as to be nearly worthless.
I have no doubt that some of my readers will object to this mode of
management as interfering with nature: but let them remember that the
bee is not in a state of nature, and that the same objection might be
urged against killing off the super-numerary males of our domestic
animals.
In July or August, soon after the swarming season is over, the bees
expel the drones from the hive. They sometimes sting them, and sometimes
gnaw the roots of their wings, so that when driven from the hive, they
cannot return. If not treated in either of these summary ways, they are
so persecuted and starved, that they soon perish. The hatred of the bees
extends even to the young which are still unhatched: they are
mercilessly pulled from the cells, and destroyed with the rest. How
wonderful that instinct which teaches the bees that there is no longer
any occasion for the services of the drones, and which impels them to
destroy those members of the colony, which, a short time before, they
reared with such devoted attention!
A colony which neglects to expel its drones at the usual season, ought
always to be examined. The queen is probably either diseased or dead. In
my hives, such an examination may be easily made, the true state of the
case ascertained, and the proper remedies at once applied. (See Chapter
on the Loss of the Queen.)