The drone bee is a clumsy fellow. The drones are the male bees. Where a dozen or more hives are kept, there is no necessity for more drones than one swarm would naturally rear, yet each one of the twelve swarms carries out its natural proclivities, and rears a large number of these useless consumers, not one in a thousand of which is ever of any use. Swarms should not be permitted to rear a large number of these non producers. A few are indispensable, yet we should take this matter into our own hands. Not one drone in five thousand ever fulfils the purpose for which it was created. Fifty drone cells is enough for one hive, and when more than this number is constructed (sometimes they will number a thousand or more in a hive) cut out all but a very few, and fit in a piece of worker comb in their place--it is more profit to raise workers than drones. Drones leave the hive, to sport in the sunshine in large numbers, every fine afternoon in June and July. When on the wing they make a very loud, coarse buzzing. They have no sting and may be handled without the least fear. When the honey season is over, the worker bees drive out the drones, and a prosperous swarm will not tolerate a drone in the hive through the winter. In September I have seen a quart or more of drones clustered together near the entrance of the hive, from whence they had been driven by the bees. The workers on guard about the entrance of the hive, would not let one pass into the hive, though they were constantly making the attempt. As soon as one would approach the entrance to the hive to pass in, a half dozen or more workers would seize him, and drag him struggling to the edge of the platform and pitch him off, at apparent great danger to his portly and clumsy body. I wish to impress strongly on the minds of all who adopt my plan of bee management, the great importance of cutting out all the drone cells, except a very few in every hive. Don't leave _more than_ fifty, half that number will do. After you have once cut out the surplus drone comb and fitted in worker comb, there is no further trouble with an excess of drones from that hive. It takes a great deal of honey to rear a large brood of drones, and still more to support them in idleness two or three months. [Illustration: HONEY CELL--WORKER CELLS--QUEEN CELLS]