The longevity of the working bees has often furnished matter for dispute, and erroneous ideas have been engendered where a family has been seen for a series of years to continue in a populous and thriving condition. But during this period the Queen (or more than one in succession) has been incessantly occupied in laying eggs innumerable, to supply by new births the place of the countless thousands of bees that periodically disappear. Their dwelling has remained, but successive generations of tenants have kept its works in repair, giving way in time to fresh occupants. It is shown clearly by Dr. Bevan and other good authorities, both by argument and actual experiment, that six to eight months is the limit of their duration; for, notwithstanding the immense annual increase, the numbers in a hive dwindle down gradually, owing to the chills of autumn and towards the end of the year, to a comparatively few. There is no doubt, therefore, that every bee existing after Christmas was bred during the latter part of the summer or autumn; and this is a sufficient answer to those who sometimes inquire what is to become of the accumulated masses of bees, in hives managed on the depriving system, where neither swarming nor destruction takes place.
We might here allude to a prevalent error as to any inherent difference, local or otherwise, in the characteristics of the domestic Honey bee. When we hear it said, that some are “better workers” than others, all that ought to be understood is, that the family has the advantage of being under favorable circumstances as to locality or season; with a fertile Queen, and an abundant population, for without these essentials, every operation goes on sluggishly, and prosperity becomes hopeless.
THE DRONE OR MALE BEES
Are computed in the early part of the summer at one to two thousand, and upwards, in a stock hive; but the numbers are irregular, for a weak stock will often have an undue proportion. They possess no sting; are larger, darker, and more hairy than the common bees; easily distinguishable by their heavy motion on the wing, and by their louder humming or droning.
After her great spring laying of common eggs has far advanced, and as an invariable preliminary to the construction of royal cells, the Queen proceeds to deposit eggs intended for the production of drones or males, though often without discontinuing those for workers. The drone eggs are laid in cells larger in diameter, and stronger than the others, and usually placed towards the outer extremities of the hive.[G] A longer period is necessary for the development of a male than a female, and the drones pass through their various stages in about twenty-four to twenty-six days, being seldom seen till about the beginning of May (though occasionally earlier), and then only in warm weather, in the middle of the day. These are the produce of the first-laid eggs; for a second smaller laying of drone eggs commonly takes place about two months later, though the males are rarely found after August, unless under certain contingencies.
[G] A curious question for the naturalist arises as to the instinct which directs a Queen bee invariably to deposit the proper eggs in the proper cells. The most accurate microscopic observation cannot detect any difference between the egg of a worker, that of a drone, or of a Queen, all proceeding indiscriminately from the same ovaries and oviduct. Ingenious theories have been advanced as to the possibility of what some call impregnated and unimpregnated eggs being laid at the option of the Mother bee. Huber’s opinion, “that nature does not allow the Queen the choice of the eggs she is to lay,” only adds to the difficulty of arriving at any satisfactory conclusion.
The drones take no part in the collection of stores, nor in any operation or process of the hive, for which they have proverbially suffered much ignorant and absurd reproach, since Nature has denied them the necessary means, and in their creation has allotted them a distinct office. Indeed, their flights from the hive are only occasional short ones, and they rarely alight during such excursions. They are of the male sex, their presence in a hive being only required at that particular period when the young queens are arriving at maturity; for of all the theories that have been entertained as to the functions of the drones, that of Huber is undoubtedly the true one,—impregnation.
“Naturalists,” says Huber, “have been extremely embarrassed to account for the number of males in most hives, and which seem only a burden on 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. 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 in their excursions; and most of the females might thus remain sterile.”
Were any doubt to remain on the subject, perhaps the annual destruction of the drones by the workers throws the most satisfactory light on the design of their creation. This process varies in point of time, according to circumstances. Deprive a hive forcibly of its Queen, and, according to Bonner and Huber, no expulsion of drones takes place. “In such cases,” says the latter, “they are tolerated and fed, and many are seen even in the middle of January.” They are retained under the inspiration of hope, for a contingency might arise to require their presence. Where a necessity for swarming has been in any way superseded, there are either no royal cells constructed, or the young queens meet with premature destruction. Then frequently commences an early expulsion of the drones, thus rendered purposeless: they become mere consumers, an incumbrance in the hive, and as such the common bees instinctively wage fierce war upon them, ending in total annihilation: nor are even the male larvæ allowed to remain in their cells. This expulsive process often commences, under such circumstances, in the middle, or at any rate towards the end of May, as I have repeatedly witnessed, and not unfrequently is again resorted to later on in the season. On the other hand, in the case of swarming hives it does not take place till July, or even later, according to season and locality, when all the royal brood is disposed of. The circumstances differ in the two cases; and the bees in this, as in other parts of their practice, are sufficiently utilitarians to modify their proceedings accordantly. In the one instance, the office of the males is rendered void, and in the other it is indispensable to the young queens. Such of these as go forth with swarms become fertilized in two or three days after (though sometimes it is later than this), followed by the laying of eggs in about a similar distance of time. Thenceforth they remain fruitful, if not ever after (as is the case with some other insects), at all events for a year, for young bees are produced, without the subsequent presence of a single male in the family, till the following spring. The destruction of the drones, therefore, be it sooner or later, may be considered an indication that the hive contains no queen brood, and, consequently, that no swarming is to be expected.