And this proportionate size of the drone explains why some
bee-masters place a net-work in front of the hives; for the network is
put to keep the big drones out while it lets the little bees go in.
Of the king bees there are, as has been stated, two kinds. In
every hive there are more kings than one; and a hive goes to ruin if
there be too few kings, not because of anarchy thereby ensuing, but,
as we are told, because these creatures contribute in some way to
the generation of the common bees. A hive will go also to ruin if
there be too large a number of kings in it; for the members of the
hives are thereby subdivided into too many separate factions.
Whenever the spring-time is late a-coming, and when there is
drought and mildew, then the progeny of the hive is small in number.
But when the weather is dry they attend to the honey, and in rainy
weather their attention is concentrated on the brood; and this will
account for the coincidence of rich olive-harvests and abundant
swarms.
The bees first work at the honeycomb, and then put the pupae
in it: by the mouth, say those who hold the theory of their bringing
them from elsewhere. After putting in the pupae they put in the
honey for subsistence, and this they do in the summer and autumn; and,
by the way, the autumn honey is the better of the two.
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