The Massacre of the Males
and less prosperous republics. Only the poorest, weakest colonies—those whose mother is very old and almost sterile—will preserve their males till the approach of winter, so as not to abandon the hope of procuring the impregnation of the virgin queen they await, and who may yet be born. Inevitable misery follows; and all the tribe—mother, parasites, workers—collect in a hungry and closely intertwined group, who perish in silence before the first snows arrive, in the obscurity of the hive.
In the wealthy and populous cities work is resumed after the execution of the drones,—although with diminishing zeal, for flowers are becoming scarce. The great festivals, the great dramas, are over. The autumn honey, however, that shall complete the indispensable provisions, is accumulating within the hospitable walls; and the last reservoirs are
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