But Dr. Evans had been "told" what was not correct when he sought to dignify drones with the office of "nursing fathers,"—that task is undertaken by the younger of the working-bees. No occupation falls to the lot of the drones in gathering honey, nor have they the means provided them by nature for assisting in the labours of the hive. The drones are the progenitors of working bees, and nothing more; so far as is known, that is the only purpose of their short existence.
In a well-populated hive the number of drones is computed at from one to two thousand. "Naturalists," says Huber, "have been extremely embarrassed to account for the number of males in most hives, and which seem only a burden to the community, since they appear to fulfil no function. But we now begin to discern the object of nature in multiplying them to such an extent. As fecundation cannot be accomplished within the hive, and as the queen is obliged to traverse the expanse of the atmosphere, it is requisite that the males should be numerous, that she may have the chance of meeting some one of them in her flight. Were only two or three in each hive, there would be little probability of their departure at the same instant with the queen, or that they would meet her in their excursions; and most of the females might thus remain sterile." It is important for the safety of the queen-bee that her stay in the air should be as brief as possible: her large size, and the slowness of her flight, render her an easy prey to birds. It is not now thought that the queen always pairs with a drone of the same hive, as Huber seems to have supposed. Once impregnated,—as is the case with most insects,—the queen-bee continues productive during the remainder of her existence. It has, however, been found that though old queens cease to lay worker eggs, they may continue to lay those of drones. The swarming season being over, that is about the end of July, a general massacre of the "lazy fathers" takes place. Dr. Bevan, in the "Honey Bee," observes on this point, "the work of the drones being now completed, they are regarded as useless consumers of the fruits of others' labour, love is at once converted into hate, and a general proscription takes place. The unfortunate victims evidently perceive their danger, for they are never, at this time, seen resting in one place, but darting in and out of the hive with the utmost precipitation, as if in fear of being seized."
Their destruction is thought, by some, to be caused by their being harassed until they quit the hive; but Huber says he ascertained that the death of the drones was caused by the stings of the workers. Supposing the drones come forth in May, which is the average period of their being hatched, their destruction takes place somewhere about the commencement of August, so that three months is the usual extent of their existence; but should it so happen that the usual development of the queen has been retarded, or that the hive has in any case been deprived of her, the massacre of the drones is deferred. But in any case, the natural term of the life of drone bees does not exceed four months, so that they are all dead before the winter, and are not allowed to be useless consumers of the general store.
The Worker Bee.—The working bees form, by far, the most numerous class of the three kinds contained in the hive, and least of all require description. They are the smallest of the bees, are dark brown in colour or nearly black, and much more active on the wing than are either drones or queens. The usual number in a healthy hive varies from twelve to thirty thousand; and, previous to swarming, exceeds the larger number. The worker-bee is of the same sex as the queen, but is only partially developed. Any egg of a worker-bee,—by the cell being enlarged, as already described, and the "royal jelly" being supplied to the larva,—may be hatched into a mature and perfect queen. This, one of the most curious facts connected with the natural history of bees, may be verified in any apiary by most interesting experiments, which may be turned to important use. With regard to the supposed distinctions between "nursing" and working bees, it is now agreed that it only consists in a division of labour,—the young workers staying at home to feed the larvæ until they are themselves vigorous enough to range the fields in quest of supplies. But, for many details of unfailing interest, we must again refer our readers to the standard works on bees that have already been named.
The Eggs of Bees.—It is necessary that some explanation should be given as to the existence of the bee before it emerges from the cell.
The eggs of all the three kinds of bees when first deposited are of an oval shape, and of a bluish-white colour. In four or five days the egg changes to a worm, and in this stage is known by the names of larva or grub, in which state it remains four to six days more; during this period it is fed by the nurse-bees with a mixture of farina and honey, a constant supply of which is given to it: the next transformation is to the nymph or pupa form; the nurse-bees now seal up the cell with a preparation similar to wax; and then the pupa spins round itself a film or cocoon, just as a silkworm does in its chrysalis state. The microscope shows that this cradle-curtain is perforated with very minute holes, through which the baby-bee is duly supplied with air. No further attention on the part of the bees is now requisite except a proper degree of heat, which they take care to keep up, a position for the breeding cells being selected in the centre of the hive where the temperature is likely to be most congenial.
Twenty-one days after the egg is first laid (unless cold weather should have retarded it) the bee quits the pupa state, and nibbling its way through the waxen covering that has enclosed it, comes forth a winged insect. In the Unicomb Observatory Hive, the young bees may distinctly be seen as they literally fight their way into the world, for the other bees do not take the slightest notice, nor afford them any assistance. We have frequently been amused in watching the eager little new-comer, now obtruding its head, and anon compelled to withdraw into the cell, to escape being trampled on by the apparently unfeeling throng, until at last it has succeeded in making its exit. The little grey creature, after brushing and shaking itself, enters upon its duties in the hive, and in a day or two may be seen gathering honey in the fields—some say on the day of its birth,—thus early illustrating that character for industry, which has been proverbial, at least, since the days of Aristotle, and which has in our day been rendered familiar even to infant minds through the nursery rhymes of Dr. Watts.
Increase of Bees.—Every one is familiar with the natural process of "swarming," by which bees provide themselves with fresh space and seek to plant colonies to absorb their increase of population. But the object of the bee-master is to train and educate his bees, and in so doing he avoids much of the risk and trouble which is incurred by allowing the busy folk to follow their own devices. The various methods for this end adopted by apiarians all come under the term of the "depriving" system; and they form part of the great object of humane and economical bee-keeping, which is to save the bees alive instead of slaughtering them as under the old clumsy system. A very natural question is often asked,—how it is that upon the depriving system, where our object is to prevent swarming, the increase of numbers is not so great as upon the old plan? It will be seen that the laying of eggs is performed by the queen only, and that there is but one queen to each hive; so that where swarming is prevented, there remains only one hive or stock, as the superfluous princesses are not allowed to come to maturity. Our plan of giving additional store-room will, generally speaking, prevent swarming; this stay-at-home policy, we contend, is an advantage, for instead of the loss of time consequent upon a swarm hanging out preparatory to flight, all the bees are engaged in collecting honey, and that at a time when the weather is most favourable and the food most abundant. Upon the old system, the swarm leaves the hive simply because the dwelling has not been enlarged at the time when the bees are increasing. The emigrants are always led off by the old queen, leaving either young or embryo queens to lead off after swarms, and to furnish a mistress for the old stock, and carry on the multiplication of the species. Upon the antiquated and inhuman plan where so great a destruction takes place by the brimstone match, breeding must, of course, be allowed to go on to its full extent to make up for such sacrifices. Our chief object under the new system is to obtain honey free from all extraneous matter. Pure honey cannot be gathered from combs where storing and breeding are performed in the same compartment. For fuller explanations on this point, we refer to the various descriptions of our improved hives in a subsequent section of this work.
There can now be scarcely two opinions as to the uselessness of the rustic plan of immolating the poor bees after they have striven through the summer so to "improve each shining hour." The ancients in Greece and Italy took the surplus honey and spared the bees, and now for every intelligent bee-keeper there are ample appliances wherewith to attain the same results. Mr. Langstroth quotes from the German the following epitaph which, he says, "might be properly placed over every pit of brimstoned bees:"—
Here Rests,