NATURE OBSERVATIONS

Evening Star, Issue 21835, 26 September 1934, Page 8

NATURE OBSERVATIONS

A correspondent forwards the following information of the habits of bees;—

As most people are aware, the honey bee is the female and the drone is the male. The honey bee herself is a most industrious little creature, working from 6 o’clock in the morning till nine at night, in. the middle of summer. The drone just moves sluggishly about the hive, doing no honey-getting, but consuming a huge quantity. After the middle of autumn the females get a grip of the old drones, drag them out of the hive, and hurl them to the ground, where the cold soon puts an end to their existence.

Seeing a swarm of bees hanging to the limb of a broadleaf I procured a ladder and hand-saw and commenced to sever the bough. The honey bees came at me in hundreds, and 1 must have had over sixty stings. A painful rash developed on my skin, and 1 lelt very shaky, but soon recovered when the washing bluebag was applied—just the ordinary blue used in laundry work.